Forgiveness : a philosophical exploration / Charles L. Griswold.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Griswold, Charles L., 1951- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Forgiveness.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxvi, 242 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Nearly everyone has wronged another. Who among us has not longed to be forgiven? Who has not struggled to forgive? Charles Griswold has written the first comprehensive philosophical book on forgiveness in both its interpersonal and political contexts, as well as its relation to reconciliation. Having examined the place of forgiveness in ancient philosophy and in modern thought, he discusses what forgiveness is, what conditions the parties to it must meet, its relation to revenge and hatred, when it is permissible and whether it is obligatory, and why it is a virtue. Griswold argues that forgiveness (unlike apology) is inappropriate in politics, and analyzes the nature and limits of political apology with reference to historical examples (including Truth and Reconciliation Commissions). The book concludes with an examination of the relation between memory, narrative, and truth.

Contents:

Forgiveness ancient and modern

Pardon, excuse, and forgiveness in ancient philosophy : the standpoint of perfection

Bishop Butler's seminal analysis

Resentment

Forgiveness

Forgiveness at its best

Forgiveness, revenge, and resentment

Resentment and self-respect

To be forgiven: changing your ways, contrition, and regret

Forgiving: a change of heart, and seeing the offender and onesdelf in a new light

The conditions of forgiveness: objections and replies

Atonement and the payment or dismissal of a debt

Forgiveness as a gift and unconditional forgiveness

Praiseworthy conditional forgiveness

Moral monsters, shared humanity, and sympathy

Moral monsters

Shared humanity and fallibility, compassion, and pity

Sympathy

The unforgivable and the unforgiven

Forgiveness, narrative, and ideals

Forgiveness, reconciliation, and friendship

Imperfect forgiveness

Ideal and non-ideal forgiveness: an inclusive or exclusive relation?

Third party forgiveness

Unilateral forgiveness: the dead and the unrepentant

Self-forgiveness

For injuries to others

For injuries to oneself

For injuries one could not help inflicting

Forgiveness and moral luck

Political apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation

Apology and forgiveness writ large: questions and distinctions

Political apology among the one and many

Many to many apology: test cases

The University of Alabama and the legacy of slavery

Apology, reparations, and the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans

Desmond tutu and South African churches

King Hussein in Israel

The United States Senate and the victims of lynching

One to many apology: two failures

Robert McNamara's war and mea culpa

Richard Nixon's resignation and pardon

Traditional rituals of reconciliation: apology, forgiveness, or pardon?

Apology and the unforgivable

Apology, forgiveness, and civic reconciliation

A culture of apology and of forgiveness : risks and abuses

Political apology, narrative, and ideals

Truth, memory, and civic reconciliation without apology

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: an interpretation

Reconciliation without apology?

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-18359-6

1-281-08625-8

9786611086251

0-511-61916-2

0-511-35018-X

0-511-35108-9

0-511-34835-5

0-511-57403-7

0-511-34932-7

OCLC:

476118514