RT Article
T1 Aristotle and the Problem of Forgiveness
JF American catholic philosophical quarterly
VO 92
IS 1
SP 49
OP 71
A1 Carter, Jason W.
LA English
PB Philosophy Documentation Center
YR 2018
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1588252876
AB In recent decades, it has been argued that the modern concept of forgiveness is absent from Aristotle's conception of συγγνώμη as it appears in his Rhetoric and Nicomachean Ethics. In this paper, I argue that Aristotle's view is more modern than it might appear. I defend the idea that Aristotle's treatment of συγγνώμη, when seen in conjunction with his theory of ethical decision, involuntary action, and character alteration, commits him to a cognitive and emotional theory of forgiveness that is both well-grounded and thoroughly modern. I go on to claim that Aristotle's view of συγγνώμη helps to solve at least four controversial problems about the nature of forgiveness raised by modern philosophers: how one can forgive a wrong without condoning it, whether forgiveness is a duty, whether moral luck requires us to forgive more widely, and whether forgiveness ought to be unconditional.
K1 ARISTOTLE, 384-322 B.C
K1 Conduct of life
K1 Forgiveness
K1 Kindness
K1 NICOMACHEAN Ethics (Book : Aristotle)
DO 10.5840/acpq20171127134