What is the connection between debt and gratitude? What are the different functions of debt in society, whether we are talking about financial debts or debts of gratitude? How can different kinds of real or perceived debts serve to uphold or legitimize inequality? When does debt become problematic or illegitimate?

Debt is a transactional, economic relation between a creditor and a debtor. Gratitude, by contrast, is usually thought of as a feeling, for example the feeling of thankfulness that we may experience after having received a gift. In practice, however, experiences of debt and gratitude tend to blur. Debt relations are often not “purely” economic, but can have deep moral or ethical connotations. Conversely, gratitude can easily transform into a feeling of owing something, as if it were a sort of transaction: this is what we call debts of gratitude.

The problem is that some debt relations, including debts of gratitude, can be experienced as unfair, illegitimate or even harmful. In the years following the 2008 financial crisis, debt activists around the globe contested what they saw as “illegitimate debts” or “unpayable debts,” on different levels. In Norway, some citizens with immigrant backgrounds have contested the seemingly never-ending, disproportionate debt of gratitude they feel expected to express towards Norwegian society. Such debts of gratitude can be experienced as illegitimate because they end up undermining people’s sense of belonging, and even one’s freedom of speech.

Using these and other examples, this discussion raises the question of what it can mean to owe someone something. Interrogating the blurry relationship between debt and gratitude, we try to disentangle their different layers of meanings, as well as the potential values and problems these relationships carry with them.

Introduction by Kaja Jenssen Rathe, PhD candidate in philosophy at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, followed by discussion.

In the panel -

- Joseph Vogl, philosopher, literature and media researcher, professor emeritus at Humboldt University in Berlin, has particularly distinguished himself with his books on financial capitalism: «The Specter of Capital», «The Sovereignty Effect» and «Capital and Ressentiment»

- Espen Gamlund professor of philosophy at the University of Bergen, has written books such as "Hva er døden" and "Kunsten å moralisere", and most recently "Takknemlighetens filosofi", active communicator of philosophy, and is often heard on NRK P2's Verdibørsen

Moderator is Eirik Høyer Leivestad, philosopher, lecturer and researcher at the Cultural Academy in Berlin. He made his debut as a book author with "Frykt og avsky i demokratiet" (Vagant, 2020). "Krystallpalasset: Historien om en beboelig metafor" (Lord Jim Publishing, 2024) is his second book.