Saturday, March 01, 2008

An exchange on "Forgiveness"

Forgiveness: A Philosophical Exploration by Charles L. Griswold, Jr. is now available in paperback.

Last year I was lucky enough to learn more about this book from two contributions to the CftAR sites by the author.

Griswold contributed an entry to the Page 69 Test for Forgiveness.

Then he participated in an interview conducted by the political philosopher Eduardo Velásquez.

Now I've learned of a fascinating exchange in Tikkun between Griswold and Father William Meninger, a Trappist monk at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, who is himself an authority on the subject of forgiveness.

At one point, Meninger writes:
As for Professor Griswold’s concern with unconditional forgiveness condoning or excusing harmful activity, I cannot answer him philosophically but only practically. Is there anyone who would say that the Amish community condoned or excused the murder of their children when they forgave him?
Can you guess what Griswold's answer is to the question?

Read the Griswold-Meninger exchange.

Read the complete Velásquez-Griswold interview.

Read an excerpt from Forgiveness and learn more about the book at the Cambridge University Press website. Also see the Page 69 Test: Forgiveness.

Charles Griswold is Professor of Philosophy at Boston University.

--Marshal Zeringue