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Synopsis
The first comprehensive philosophical book on forgiveness in both its interpersonal and political contexts.
Leon H. Brody - Library Journal
Griswold (philosophy, Boston Univ.; Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment) notes that the concept of forgiveness has "religious overtones," so he wisely-because this is a philosophical inquiry-limits himself to "forgiveness as a secular virtue (that is, as not dependent on any notion of the divine)." In the interpersonal (person-to-person) realm of forgiveness, he examines such related concepts as revenge, resentment, self-respect, atonement, sympathy, mental illness, compassion, pity, the unforgivable and the unforgiven, and self-forgiveness. In the political realm (e.g., a person or persons and a government, state, corporation, church, or civil association), he considers issues wherein forgiveness can or should play a part: e.g., slavery and lynching in U.S. history, the wartime internment of Japanese Americans, truth and reconciliation in South Africa, the Vietnamese conflict, and the Holocaust. This in-depth study of a topical issue will be accessible and of great interest to public library patrons as well as scholars, and it is highly recommended for both.