Offering: Disorientation with Ami Harbin

Hi All, I’m so excited to be sharing the first in a series of interviews with people who are thinking creatively and carefully about some of the topics I try to make sense of in Offerings. Today’s interview is with philosopher Ami Harbin, whose book Disorientation and Moral Life explores what she describes as “temporally extended, major life experiences that make it difficult for individuals to know how to go on.” The way she thinks about moral life is also important to note here, I think. Far from involving only committed, decisive actions or clear ethical dilemmas, Harbin’s notion of moral life includes “a very broad set of things that we do, things that we intend, ways that we interact, ways that we behave and remember and feel…everything from how we cultivate relationships to how we think of ourselves, to how we remember our pasts, how we spend money…” Disorientations “often involve feeling deeply out of place, unfamiliar, or not at home,” and can sometimes have what she describes as “tenderizing effects” on those who experience them. These experiences, though often extraordinarily difficult, can change how we understand and move through the world. What first drew me into Disorientation and Moral Life was Harbin’s suggestion that experiences of disorientation can sometimes—with caveats, which she takes care to parse in the book—be morally beneficial. Thinking through this lens of disorientation has become really useful for me in part because, as Harbin argues, disorientations are common, they can and do have an impact on how we live, and in some cases may help us learn to live responsibly in unpredictable circumstances. Even when we don’t know how to go on. Special thank you to Dave Coustan, who’s been a friend to both me and the Offerings project, offering creative and technical support with these interviews plus ongoing encouragement. Thank you to the frozen tide of southern Maine, whose beautiful sounds made their way in here as well. Ami Harbin is an associate professor of philosophy and women and gender studies at Oakland University near Detroit, Michigan. Originally from Canada, she moved to the U.S. in 2012 and is the author of two books, Disorientation and Moral Life published by Oxford University Press in 2016, and Fearing Together: Ethics for Insecurity published by Oxford in 2023. She teaches classes in ethics, healthcare ethics, and feminist theory and her main research interests are in philosophy of emotion, moral psychology, and psychiatric ethics. I hope you enjoy this conversation. Offerings is part of a reader- and listener-supported research project examining grief, loss, and mourning. Offerings are accessible in full for paying subscribers and in part for for free subscribers. Paying subscribers also get priority access to live events with limited space, including Sunday Meetings, workshops, and one-on-one sessions. To support this project by becoming a paying subscriber, hit the “subscribe now” button below. Jessica This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadore.substack.com/subscribe