Das Thema »Verzeihen« bringt ein ganzes Bündel von Fragen mit sich. Weder ist per se klar, was Verzeihen ist, noch welche Rolle es im Sozialen, Politischen und Moralischen spielt. Ist Verzeihen eine Fähigkeit? Wer kann überhaupt verzeihen? Gehören zum Verzeihen Sprechakte wie die Bitte um und das sprachliche Ausdrücken von Verzeihen? Welche Gefühle sind wie involviert? Welche Rolle spielen die historischen und politischen Kontexte? In diesem Heft wird dieses Thema aus verschiedenen Blickrichtungen behandelt, um einige Antworten auf Fragen danach, was Verzeihen ist, welchen Wert und welche Bedeutung es hat, vorzustellen.
Inhalt:
Dina Emundts
Schwerpunkt
Emil Angehrn
Abstract The Power of Forgiveness.
The act of forgiveness can be analysed in three ways. On the one hand, it is a moral behaviour in dealing with guilt and injustice. Secondly, forgiveness is a social behaviour towards other people. Finally, it is a specific temporal relation, a revision of the past, which also affects the present and the future. In each of the three respects, which are intertwined in multiple ways, forgiving is a complex, existentially significant act.
Keywords: fault, past, revenge, forgetting, unconditional forgiveness.
Buy article Oliver Hallich
Abstract Explicit and Non-Explicit Forgiveness. In this contribution, I examine how forgiveness relates to the utterance »I forgive you«. In contrast to the widespread assumption that forgiveness itself is a speech act, I argue that to say »I forgive you« is not to perform the act of forgiveness but to perform a constative speech act about forgiveness. Regardless of what conception of forgiveness we favor, however, we can forgive without explicitly saying that we forgive, i. e. we can forgive silently. Moreover, speaking about one’s own act of forgiveness often casts a dubious light on the forgiver: by explicitly saying that he forgives, he may exercise power or pride himself on his ability to overcome retributive emotions. I therefore make a plea for »silent forgiveness«. Silent forgiveness will sometimes, but not always, lead to the restoration of damaged interpersonal relationships. I argue that, in light of the distinction between forgiveness and reconciliation, this is no compelling objection to my defence of silent forgiveness. Keywords: forgiveness, speech act, power, reconciliation.
Buy article Stefan Riedener
Abstract Forgiveness as a Normative Power.
In this paper, I try to determine the best way to understand forgiveness as a normative power. My suggestion is: to forgive a wrongdoer is to forswear the claim towards them to treat them as responsible for the relevant wrong. In defense of this claim, I contrast it with Susanne Boshammer’s and Christopher Bennett’s conceptions of forgiveness – and argue especially that it explains better how, in forgiving, we grant the wrongdoer a second chance. Keywords: forgiveness, normative powers, standing to forgive, responsibility.
Buy article Sebastian Rödl
Abstract The Good and Forgiveness
The essay develops the idea of the good, which governs human action, through its opposition to evil. In this way, it seeks to clarify how human action relates to nature, law, and forgiveness. Keywords: human action, the good, practical law, forgiveness, evil.
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Essay:
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Sören Fiedler Buy article Marc Rölli
