Forgiveness Problem

philosophy

elementary

FI2_W01; FI2_W02; P6S_WK

No prerequisites

In this course, we will discuss the nature of the wrongdoing and methods of dealing with its effects. We will consider both the victim's point of view and the perpetrator's point of view. We will discuss such acts of response to the harm as forgetting, reparation, revenge, rationalization, punishment, and finally, forgiveness and reconciliation. We will pay special attention to forgiveness because of its complex nature and moral significance. We will use literary texts and philosophical, legal, and moral theology theories relating to the various components of the response to harm.

In this course, we will consider the conditions of legitimacy and effectiveness of dealing with the wrong suffered and done. The starting material of this work, in addition to elementary moral intuitions, are literary texts, for example, two novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Wronged and Humiliated" and "Crime and Punishment". The starting point of the discussion will be the definition of injustice itself. The starting point for further discussion will be the following assumptions: (1) Wrong is a relatively permanent state of affairs arising in a person as a result of experiencing some harm from another person and entailing moral obligations on the part of both the wrong-doer and the wrong-doer; (2) Wrong is not founded in the harm itself, but in a specific relationship occurring between the victim and the wrong-doer. (3) The crucial component of wrong is some form of violence on the part of the wrong-doer; (4) Wrongdoing consists in violating the victim's dignity; it helps to understand the fact that the internal trauma caused by the wrong-doing is often long-lasting and difficult to remove; (5) The relational nature of wrong makes it a system in which many components of a material, psychological and moral nature determine each other; (6) The systemic nature of wrong makes it difficult to remove its effects. We will consider different acts aimed at this goal, such as revenge, rationalization, punishment, and forgetting. A distinguished place among the means of dealing with the harm suffered has forgiveness, as it is an attempt to heal the interpersonal relationship transformed and dominated by the wrong done. The expectations we generally associate with forgiveness are very high - it is about the moral restitution of both the victim and the wrong-doer. We will try to answer whether these expectations have a sound moral basis. We will also consider the deeper ontological and axiological assumptions in righting wrongs.

We will discuss Karolina Wigura's book, The Guilt of Nations, published by Scholar 2011, and Elzbieta Czykwin's book, Shame, published by Impuls 2013.

The class will also use the instructor's book:

R. Pilat, Wrongs and reparations

and minor works on the subject:

R. Pilat, Ontology of reconciliation, "Philosophical and Literary Review," 2 (17), 2007

R. Pilate, Moral evaluation of self-deception, Ethos, no. 92, 2010

R. Pilat, Violence as a philosophical problem, Ethos, no. 106, 2014

R. Pilat, Community, and forgiveness, "Carmelite Notebooks," 3(40) 2007

Knowledge: Acquaintance with problems and controversies in moral philosophy in connection with the demand for a morally adequate response to wrongdoing.

Skills 1: Ability to analyze non-philosophical texts, such as literary or psychological, to convincingly extract philosophical problems from them.

Skills 2: Ability to write an essay combining one's intuitions and literature in analyzing one of the problems connected to wrongness and its repair.

Competencies: Ability to rationally discuss inherently controversial and emotionally charged topics;

Knowledge: 3: an encyclopedic knowledge of the selected problem and concept; 4: knowledge of the problems and concepts sufficient to compare and evaluate them; 5: broad knowledge of the concepts of wronging including context, variants, and consequences.

Skills: 3: understanding of problems at the concrete level, using examples; writing an essay containing opinions without thorough analysis and justification; 4: the ability to see general and theoretical problems; writing an argumentative essay; 5: the ability to independently analyze problems and critically analyze answers, formulate independent views; writing an argumentative essay containing original attempts at answers.

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