Jesson, Stuart ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8826-0314 (2014) On the Ambiguity of Forgiveness. Philosophy and Theology, 26 (1). 131 -150.

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Abstract

This article highlights some of the difficulties that accompany any attempt to articulate an understanding of forgiveness that is at once coherent, just and desirable.
Through a close examination of Charles Griswold’s book Forgiveness: A Philosophical Exploration, I suggest that there are good reasons to think that forgiveness is intrinsically ambiguous, both conceptually and morally. I argue that there is an underlying tension between the concerns that shape the definition, and those that are invoked when affirming the good of forgiveness. Using Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, I then provide some commentary concerning this ambiguity and make some brief suggestions about how this ambiguity might be theologically fruitful.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.5840/philtheol20143126
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/1600

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