Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness

The paper attempts to bridge a gap between two prevalent conceptions of forgiveness that are widely thought to be in opposition. On one side of things, forgiveness is often characterized as a gift. The image is an ever-present one, enduring in popular culture no less than in the sober prose of analy...

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Main Author: Mario Attie-Picker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Michigan Publishing 2023-03-01
Series:Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy
Online Access:https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/2274/
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author Mario Attie-Picker
author_facet Mario Attie-Picker
author_sort Mario Attie-Picker
collection DOAJ
description The paper attempts to bridge a gap between two prevalent conceptions of forgiveness that are widely thought to be in opposition. On one side of things, forgiveness is often characterized as a gift. The image is an ever-present one, enduring in popular culture no less than in the sober prose of analytic philosophy. But we also talk of forgiveness as a moral imperative, an important, even vital aspect of our moral life. I argue that, contrary to what may at first appear, the two sides are not in tension, and each gets at something important about the nature of forgiveness. Forgiveness is indeed a gift but, much like actual gifts, it is one we are sometimes required to give.
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publishDate 2023-03-01
publisher Michigan Publishing
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series Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy
spelling doaj-art-da7f9dd3076b4eae9c51c1e33df58b492025-08-20T02:48:41ZengMichigan PublishingErgo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy2330-40142023-03-019010.3998/ergo.2274Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on ForgivenessMario Attie-Picker0Loyola University ChicagoThe paper attempts to bridge a gap between two prevalent conceptions of forgiveness that are widely thought to be in opposition. On one side of things, forgiveness is often characterized as a gift. The image is an ever-present one, enduring in popular culture no less than in the sober prose of analytic philosophy. But we also talk of forgiveness as a moral imperative, an important, even vital aspect of our moral life. I argue that, contrary to what may at first appear, the two sides are not in tension, and each gets at something important about the nature of forgiveness. Forgiveness is indeed a gift but, much like actual gifts, it is one we are sometimes required to give.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/2274/
spellingShingle Mario Attie-Picker
Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness
Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy
title Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness
title_full Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness
title_fullStr Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness
title_full_unstemmed Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness
title_short Obligatory Gifts: An Essay on Forgiveness
title_sort obligatory gifts an essay on forgiveness
url https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/2274/
work_keys_str_mv AT marioattiepicker obligatorygiftsanessayonforgiveness