The ethics of forgiveness : a collection of essays

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Title:

The ethics of forgiveness : a collection of essays

Author:

Fricke, Christel.

ISBN:

9780415885430

Publication Information:

London : Routledge, 2011.

Physical Description:

vii, 212 p. ; 24 cm.

Series:

Routledge studies in ethics and moral theory ; 14

General Note:

Formerly CIP.

Contents:

Part I. Historical and intercultural perspectives on forgiveness -- ch. 1. Forgiveness and forbearance in ancient china / Christoph Harbsmeier -- ch. 2. Unconditional forgiveness in Christianity? : some reflections on ancient Christian sources and practices / Ilaria L. E. Ramelli -- Part II. Forgiveness and selfhood -- ch. 3. What we cannot do to each other : on forgiveness and moral vulnerability / Christel Fricke -- ch. 4. The self rewritten : the case of self-forgiveness / Garry L. Hagberg -- ch. 5. Self-forgiveneess and the narrative sense of self / Peter Goldie -- Part III. Exploring the lImits of forgiveness -- ch. 6. Conditional unconditional forgiveness / Eve Garrad and David McNaughton -- ch. 7. Forgiveness without blame / Espen Gamlund -- ch. 8. On loving our enemies / Jerome Neu -- ch. 9. Can forgiveness be morally wrong / Arne Johan Vetlesen -- ch. 10. Apologising for historic injustices / Geoffrey Scarre -- ch. 11. Forgiveness, history, narrative : W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz / Jakob Lothe.

Abstract:

We are often pressed to forgive or in need of forgiveness: Wrongdoing is common. Even after a perpetrator has been taken to court and punished, forgiveness still has a role to play. How should a victim and a perpetrator relate to each other outside the courtroom, and how should others relate to them? Communicating about forgiveness is particularly urgent in cases of civil war and crimes against humanity inside a community where, if there were no forgiveness, the community would fall apart.Forgiveness is governed by social and, in particular, by moral norms. Do those who ask to be forgiven have to fulfil certain conditions for being granted forgiveness? And what does the granting of forgiveness consist in? We may feel like refusing to forgive those perpetrators who have committed the most horrendous crimes. But is such a refusal justified even if they repent their crimes? Could there be a duty for the victim to forgive? Can forgiveness be granted by a third party? Under which conditions?

Subject Term:

Forgiveness -- Moral and ethical aspects.

Added Author:

Fricke, Christel.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025560513	179.9 F897E 2011	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Forgiveness is governed by social and, in particular, by moral norms. Do those who ask to be forgiven have to fulfil certain conditions for being granted forgiveness? And what does the granting of forgiveness consist in? We may feel like refusing to forgive those perpetrators who have committed the most horrendous crimes. But is such a refusal justified even if they repent their crimes? Could there be a duty for the victim to forgive? Can forgiveness be granted by a third party? Under which conditions may we forgive ourselves?

The papers collected in the present volume address all these questions, exploring the practice of forgiveness and its normative constraints. Topics include the ancient Chinese and the Christian traditions of forgiveness, the impact of forgiveness on the moral dignity and self-respect of the victim, self-forgiveness, the narrative of forgiveness as well as the limits of forgiveness. Such limits may arise from the personal, historical, or political conditions of wrongdoing or from the emotional constraints of the victims.