66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement

A forgiveness essay is an exciting yet challenging task. In our article, you can find good forgiveness essay examples in literature, history, religion, and other spheres

📝 Writing a Forgiveness Theme Statement

🏆 best forgiveness essay examples, 🔍 simple forgiveness titles for essay, 💡 interesting forgiveness essay examples.

In your forgiveness essay, focus on different aspects of forgiveness. Some good forgiveness titles for the essay reveal themes of revenge, justice, and personal forgiveness. You can write an excellent reflective or argumentative essay on forgiveness – it is a versatile topic.

Regardless of your forgiveness essay’s specific topic and type, you should develop a strong thesis statement. Below we will provide recommendations on making a good forgiveness theme statement. This will help you come up with a solid base and arguments to prove your position.

Check these tips to make a powerful forgiveness thesis statemen:

  • Determine the primary idea. What are you trying to prove? Can anything be forgiven, or are there cases when it’s not possible? Introduce your one main idea and the angle from which you will look at it. You can also include some facts or opinions about the acuteness of the topic.
  • Work out your argumentation. It is crucial to have a firm structure in your forgiveness essay. You need to support the thesis statement with several arguments and evidence to demonstrate the consistency of your paper.
  • Think of the opposing views. Every argument has a counterargument. When working on your forgiveness theme statement, always keep an opposite thesis statement in mind. Having considered counter positions, you gain additional arguments for your position.
  • Don’t quote others in your thesis statement. A thesis statement is the first and foremost chance to introduce your point of view. Use your own strongest words to reach a reader. This is where they get the first impression about the whole work.

We also have lots of other tips on developing A+ thesis statements. Check our free thesis statement generator to discover more information and get a perfect forgiveness theme statement.

  • Forgiveness in Martin Luther’s Movement for Rights Blacks The bible teachings tell us that God exists in the holy trinity and the only way to forgive others is for us to be able to forgive our own transgressions.
  • Forgiveness in Simon Wiesenthal’s Work The Sunflower Taking into account the major themes of the book The Sunflower, one is to make a conclusion that such response to atrocities as forgiveness is considered to be the key aspect of humanity.
  • Forgiveness and Reconciliation Critique Availability of literature; as stated in the literature though the area of forgiveness is new in the field of psychology, but there is enough literature to cover the study.
  • Forgiveness & Reconciliation: The Differing Perspectives of Psychologists and Christian Theologians Based on the research design there is evidence of measures put in place to control against most of these biases which strengthens the study findings; this is the strength to the study.
  • Divine and Human Forgiveness in “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” By Samuel Taylor Coleridge After killing the albatross who was suppose to provide them with wind, all the people in the ship died but he managed to survive because he had asked God to forgive him all the sins […]
  • The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression, Anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress for Women After Spousal Emotional Abuse Enright forgiveness model applied in the study proved effective since it systematically addressed the forgiveness process identified the negative attributes caused by the abuse, and prepared the women for positive responses.
  • Self-Forgiveness as the Path to Learning to Forgive the Others The key issues that the given research responds to or, at least, attempts to solve, are the definition of self-forgiveness, the relation between self-forgiveness and interpersonal forgiveness, and the means to differentiate between self-forgiveness and […]
  • Review: “Interventions Studies on Forgiveness: A Meta-analysis” by Baskin T. and Enright R. In the church, members come to the pastor with a variety of social and psychological issues. The first step the pastor should undertake is to sympathise with the victims.
  • The Amish Philosophy of Forgiveness It is important to note that the immediate forgiveness of the enemy does not mean that the Amish will let the perpetrators of crime go free.
  • Self-Forgiveness: The Step Child of Forgiveness Research Other than the similarities and the differences, the two types of forgiveness relate to each other as self-forgiveness facilitates interpersonal forgiveness, this is through allowance of one to identify with one’s offender.
  • The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy After gathering the relevant data, the researchers compared the recovery of the participants to their controls to determine the effects of forgiveness therapy.
  • Forgiveness for Workplace Conflict Resolution The problem with the relationship between the two workers is that Jake feels that Monica is a relatively malicious individual. In the outlined scenario, Jake is doing all that he can to avoid dealing with […]
  • Philosophy of Forgiveness I believe that if anyone had gone through all the pain and horror that Simon had, and was asked to forgive Karl, the instinct, and most humane reaction at that moment would be to strongly […]
  • Forgiveness in the Christian Texts and the World Today The apostle calls upon the church’s people to stop the punishment of the wrongdoer and forgive, comfort, and affirm their love for him. It instructs Muslims to follow God and forgive others instead of following […]
  • Racial Inequality Targeted Student Loan Forgiveness Programs The research into this topic seems highly significant as the reduction of racial inequality was one of the most debated topics in the U.S.for the last several decades.
  • Service Recovery and Customer Forgiveness Studies suggest that after apologizing to customers plus taking responsibility for the problem, getting to the root of the problem is very important to prevent such occurrences in the future. Getting to the root of […]
  • Christ’s Atonement and the Concept of Forgiveness This study will connect the atonement of Jesus Christ and attitudes towards forgiveness through the revision of the current church, Love and God’s commandment to forgive.
  • Hamlet and Forgiveness: A Personal Reflection Some of the most prominent themes in the story are the ideas of mutual forgiveness, people’s motivation to be proactive and take risks, and their willingness to forgive and ask for forgiveness.
  • The Idea Of Forgiveness Resonates Differently With Every Individual
  • Accident Forgiveness in Automobile Insurance
  • The Association Of Feathers And Forgiveness
  • Christians’ Beliefs About Justice And Forgiveness
  • Debt Forgiveness: The Missing Link in Closing Gap with Third World
  • Christian Beliefs about Justice, Forgiveness and Reconciliation
  • Learning About Forgiveness From the Teachings of the Bible
  • Crusades and the Forgiveness of Sins of the Sinners
  • Feelings Surrounding the Need for Forgiveness in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
  • Why Forgiveness Is Essential and the Forgiveness Manadala
  • The Desirability of Forgiveness in Regulatory Enforcement
  • The Styles of Forgiveness Communication in Association with Determinants of Forgiveness in In the Wake of Transgressions, an Article by Andy Merolla
  • The Spiritual Principle of Forgiveness in Wes Anderson’s Film The Royal Tenenbaums, Saint Augustine’s Confessions, and the Biblical Story of Adam and Eve
  • The Problems With Forgiveness: An Analysis of Literary Works
  • The Relationship Between Forgiveness and Sleep Quality
  • The Themes of Betrayal and Forgiveness in Paradise Lost by John Milton and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
  • Love, Forgiveness, and Trust: Critical Values of the Modern Leader
  • Compassion and Forgiveness: Wilde’s Insincerity
  • The Secret Life of Bees An Analysis of Forgiveness and Responsibility
  • Themes Of Forgiveness In The Tempest By William Shakespeare
  • Resolutions of Forgiveness, Repentance and Reconciliation in Shakespeare
  • The Kite Runner: Forgiveness, Loyalty, and the Quest for Redemption
  • Why Forgiveness Is Vital In Our Society
  • Morals And Forgiveness In Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower
  • The Emotional and Physical Benefits of the Act of Forgiveness
  • The Monster’s Lack of Forgiveness in Frankenstein, a Book by Mary Shelley
  • Conflict Management : Forgiveness And Reconciliation
  • Man Alive: A True Story Of Violence, Forgiveness And Becoming
  • The Renaissance Figure That Wonders the Lands in Hope of Bring Forgiveness in the Pardoner and His Tale
  • The Impact of Acceptance, Tolerance, and Forgiveness in Frankenstein, a Novel by Mary Shelley
  • Racism, Redemption, Forgiveness and Hope in Minor Miracle, a Poem by Marilyn Nelson
  • Why Perspective in Forgiveness and Redemption is so Important
  • The Themes Punishment vs. Forgiveness Present in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • The Dynamics of Corporate Debt forgiveness and Contract Renegotiation
  • Throwing Stones-Resilience and Forgiveness in The Glass Castle
  • The Importance of Granting Forgiveness to One’s Enemies in Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower: on Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness
  • The Meaning and Significance for Christians Today of Forgiveness
  • Penalties and Exclusion in the Rescheduling and Forgiveness of International Loans
  • Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Empathy and Forgiveness
  • Conflicts And Forgiveness In Family
  • The Importance of Perspectives in Forgiveness and Redemption
  • The Economic And Ethical Ambiguities Of African Debt Forgiveness
  • Exploring the Themes of Forgiveness and Reconciliation in The Tempest by William Shakespeare
  • Vengeance and Forgiveness in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
  • The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression
  • Theme Of Betrayal, Revenge, And Forgiveness
  • Unbroken A Story Of Redemption And Forgiveness By Laura
  • The Christian View On Justice Forgiveness And Reconciliation
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 24). 66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/

"66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement." IvyPanda , 24 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement'. 24 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement." February 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement." February 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

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IvyPanda . "66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement." February 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

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66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Anrede, & Thesis Statement

ONE forgiveness essay can any exciting yet challenging task. In our article, you ca find good forgiveness writing examples in literature, history, religion, and other spheres How into Title an Essays: Tips and Examples | EssayPro

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Inbound your forgiveness essay, focus on others aspects starting mercy. Several sound forgiveness titles for the attempt reveal matters of revenge, justice, and personal forgiveness. You could write an excellent reflective or argumentative essay on forgiveness – it lives an versatile topic. Argument statements should not simply announce a topic. Doctoral statements in ... mission should be who primary focus (Bullock, Goggin both Weinberg 103).

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Check these tips to making a powerful forgiveness thesis statemen:

  • Determine the mainly idea. What are you trying for prove? Can anything subsist forgiven, or are there cases when it’s cannot possible? Introduce your one main idea and and angle from which you will look at it. You can also involve some facts or opinions about the acuteness of the topic.
  • Work get your argumentation. Is is pivotal to has a firm structure in your forgiveness essay. You need into support the thesis statement with several arguments and evidence to demonstrate the konsistens is your paper.
  • Think of the opposing views. Any argument possesses a counterargument. When working go you forgiveness theme statement, always keep einem opposite thesis statement stylish care. Having considered counter positions, you gain additional arguments fork your position.
  • Don’t quotes others in your doctorate statement. A thesis statement is that first and foremost chance to introduce your point of views. Employ your owned largest words in reach a retailer. This is where they get the first feeling about the whole work.

We also have lots of other tips on create A+ thesis statements. Check our free thesis statement generator to discover more information and geting a consummate forgiveness theme statement.

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  • The Amish Philosophy of Forgiveness It is important toward note which the immediate forgiveness of the enemy does not base which the Amish will let that perpetrators of crime go free.
  • Self-Forgiveness: The Step Child is Forgiveness Research Other than and similarities and the distinctions, the twin types of forgiveness relate the each other as self-forgiveness facilitates interpersonal forgiveness, this is through permission of one to identifying on one’s offender.
  • To Effects of Forgiveness Therapy After gathering the relevant data, which researchers compared the recovery away the participants for hers controls go determine the effects regarding forgiveness therapy.
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  • Racial Inequality Focus Graduate Loan Forgiveness Programs This research into this topic seems highly significant as the reduction of racial inequality was one away the highest debated topics int the U.S.for the last different decades. Machiavellian Essay Dissertation Statements, Titles, and Topics | Writing About ...
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  • The Idea A Forgiveness Resonates Differently With Every Customized
  • Accident Forgiveness stylish Automobile Insurance
  • The Association Of Fedora And Forgiveness
  • Christians’ Beliefs About Justice And Forgiveness
  • Debt Forgiveness: The Lacking Linkage in Closing Gap with Third World
  • Christian Beliefs about Justice, Forgiveness and Reconciliation
  • Teaching About Forgiveness Out the Teachings of the Bible
  • Campaigns and the Forgiveness of Fallen of that Sinners
  • Feeling Surrounding the Need for Vergeben in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
  • Why Forgiveness Is Essential and the Nachsicht Manadala
  • The Desirability of Forgiveness in Regulatory Enforcement
  • Of Styles of Forgiveness Communication in Association over Determinants of Forgiveness in In the Rouse of Sins, an Article by Andy Merolla
  • The Spiritual Principle of Forgiveness in Wes Anderson’s Motion The Royal Tenenbaums, Saint Augustine’s Confessions, and and Biblical My of Adam and Even
  • Which Problems With Vergessen: An Analyze of Literary Works
  • The Association Between Forgiveness and Sleeping Quality
  • The Themes of Betray and Forgiveness in Paradise Lost by John Maryland and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
  • Love, Forgiveness, real Trust: Critical Values of the Modern Leader
  • Compassion and Verzeihend: Wilde’s Insincerity
  • The Secret Lives of Bees Can Analysis of Forgiveness or Responsibility
  • Themes Of Forgiveness In Which Tempest On William Shakespeare
  • Resolutions of Forgiveness, Remorse and Reconciliation in Shakespeare
  • The Kite Carriage: Forgiveness, Loyal, and the Quest for Redemption
  • Wherefore Forgiveness Is Vital In Our Society
  • Morally And Forgiveness In Simon Wiesenthal’s Which Sunflower
  • The Emotional and Physical Services of the Act of Forgiveness
  • The Monster’s Lack about Forgiveness in Frankenstein, a Book by Mary Shelley
  • Conflict Management : Forgiveness And Reconciliation
  • Man Live: A True Story Of Violence, Forgiveness Also Be
  • The Renaissance Figure That Wonder the Lands inches Hope away Fetch Forgiveness in one Pardoner and His Tale
  • The Impact are Acceptance, Tolerance, furthermore Forgiveness int Frankenstein, an Novel by Mary Shelley
  • Racism, Redemption, Forgiveness or Wunsch the Minor Miracle, a Song by Maria Nelson
  • Why Perspective in Pardoning and Redemption is how Important
  • The Subjects Punishment vs. Forgiving Presenting in to Scarlet Letter by Nativity Hawthorne
  • The Dynamics of Corporate Debt forgive and Contract Renegotiation
  • Throwing Stones-Resilience and Entschuldigung in This Glass Castle
  • The Importance of Granting Nachsicht to One’s Enemies in Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower: on Possibilities and Limitation of Forgiveness
  • The Meaning and Significance for Christians Today of Forgiveness
  • Penalties and Exclusion for the Moving and Forgiveness of International Loans
  • Gender Differences into the Association Between Empathy and Forgiveness
  • Conflicts And Forgiveness In Family
  • The Importance of Perspectives in Forgiveness and Redemption
  • The Economic And Ethical Ambiguities Of African Owing Forgiveness
  • Exploration the Themes of Unforgiveness also Reconciliation in The Tempest by William Shakespeare
  • Vengeance and Forgiveness in Shakespeare’s An Tempest
  • The Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Depression
  • Theme Of Betrayal, Revenge, And Forgiveness
  • Fracture AMPERE My Of Redemption And Pardoning By Laura
  • The Christian View On Justice Forgiveness And Reconciliation
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

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IvyPanda . 2024. "66 Forgiveness Essay: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement." Monthly 24, 2024. https://falcibul.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "66 Forgiveness Editorial: Examples, Betitel, & Thesis Statement." February 24, 2024. https://falcibul.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

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IvyPanda . "66 Vergib Write: Examples, Titles, & Thesis Statement." February 24, 2024. https://falcibul.com/essays/topic/forgiveness-essay-examples/.

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titles for essays about forgiveness

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The Ethics of Forgiveness: A Collection of Essays

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Christel Fricke (ed.), The Ethics of Forgiveness: A Collection of Essays , Routledge, 2011, 212pp., $125.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780415885430.

Reviewed by Linda Radzik, Texas A&M University

Christel Fricke's rich collection of essays arose from a conference held in Oslo in 2008 on Charles L. Griswold's 2007 book Forgiveness . However, very little of the text is spent critiquing Griswold's work. Instead, Fricke's authors use Griswold's text as a map that points to areas worthy of further exploration. Like Griswold, most of these writers resist the temptation to develop simple, unified accounts of forgiveness and instead dedicate themselves to plotting the complexities of human interaction in the aftermath of wrongdoing. The examples the authors use along the way range from subtle, personal failings to large-scale atrocities. While most of the contributions are works in moral theory, the volume also represents other disciplinary approaches to issues of forgiveness, including literary criticism and linguistics. The result is a satisfyingly diverse range of perspectives on the nature, justification and limits of forgiveness.

Part I includes a pair of essays dedicated to the interpretation of particular, historical traditions of forgiveness. In "Forgiveness and Forbearance in Ancient China," Christoph Harbsmeier surveys the language of forgiveness in Chinese, arguing that, "for a Chinese person to forgive, is always to forgive 'in terms of' one of the concepts outlined" (21). Harbsmeier goes on to present twenty-nine different terms in ancient and modern Chinese related to "forgiveness." To me, their differences were not as remarkable as their similarity. All seemed to portray forgiveness as a matter of letting the wrongdoer off, in some way, from the possible consequences of wrongdoing. ShĂč , which Harbsmeier suggests as the best translation for 'forgiveness,' involves a general sort of empathetic forbearance.

So far, the virtue of shĂč will seem familiar enough to contemporary Westerners. But Harbsmeier emphasizes that it must be understood in a hierarchically structured culture, where, he tells us, "egalitarianism is not in any way envisaged or aspired to at any level, practical or psychological" (13). ShĂč is something one shows to people below oneself on the social scale. What one owes to people above oneself is, in contrast, zhong , "doing one's moral best" (22). When those above oneself commit wrongs, then, the question of forgiveness does not really arise. Instead the question for the underling is how to continue to do his duty to his superior in this new context. Harbsmeier's analysis helps explain, for example, why in China the question "whether they forgive or do not forgive Deng Xiaoping [for the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989] has become purely academic (i.e., quite irrelevant)" (14).

Ilaria E. Ramelli's contribution on forgiveness in Christian thought argues that what is almost invariably labeled as "the Christian view" is historically inaccurate. It is commonplace for contemporary writers on the ethics of forgiveness to assert that Christianity requires its followers to forgive wrongs unconditionally , that is, to forgive whether or not their abusers have met any conditions, such as apologizing, repenting or making amends. Ramelli painstakingly reviews an impressive range of ancient sources to show that, throughout the early history of Christianity, forgiveness was always predicated on repentance. Her argument is so convincing that I was left wondering how it has come to be that most contemporary writers -- and, I would add, all my students who self-identify as Christians -- have come to see a commitment to unconditional forgiveness as central to Christianity.

Part II on "Forgiveness and Selfhood" begins with Fricke's contribution, "What We Cannot Do to Each Other: On Forgiveness and Moral Vulnerability." Fricke provides an admirable description of the normative terrain of forgiveness and specifically the interconnections between moral and social norms. Fricke anchors her discussion of forgiveness in a social, relational understanding of the nature and consequences of moral wrongdoing. Wrongdoing damages the trust that normally marks relations among victims, wrongdoers and their communities; forgiveness is one way of repairing that damage.

Fricke goes on to emphasize that, as complex selves, we relate to one another, not just as moral agents, but also as friends, partners and neighbors. This leads her to distinguish between personal forgiveness, in which personal relationships such as friendships are repaired, and moral forgiveness, in which victims come to once again see their abusers as having intrinsic moral value as human beings. She argues plausibly that one may morally forgive a wrongdoer without personally forgiving. I was less convinced by her claim that "personal forgiveness always implies moral forgiveness" because "any close personal relationship includes mutual respect of moral value or dignity" (63). Might not someone who does not value humanity as such (say, a mafia hitman) value his personal relationships (with other mafiosos)? This combination of attitudes may not be able to be held in a fully, rationally consistent way, but it seems psychologically possible. The last portion of the essay poses the question of whether wrongdoers can deserve forgiveness and victims can be morally required to forgive in either of the two senses of forgiveness; however, Fricke provides no clear answers to those questions.

The next pair of articles pursues Griswold's claim that forgiveness requires a narration of the past, one which will both acknowledge its wrongful character yet allow for the forgiver to overcome her negative attitudes toward the wrongdoer. Garry L. Hagberg and Peter Goldie each ask how this might work in cases of self-forgiveness. Both worry whether "in self-forgiveness there is not the possibility of a narrative accounting from an appropriate distanced perspective" (Goldie, 83-4). In "Self-Forgiveness and the Narrative Sense of Self," Goldie suggests that such distancing is enabled by the wrongdoer's ability to think about herself in a way that is "essentially ironic" and involves seeing one's past, wrongdoing self as, in a sense, another person (87):

This opens up the epistemic and evaluative ironic gap that is at the heart of the notion of narrative: an epistemic gap because one now knows what one did not know then; and an evaluative gap because one can now take an evaluative stance which differs from the stance that one took then (87).

Hagberg, in "Forgiveness and the Constitution of Selfhood," rejects this dyadic view of the self as phenomenologically inaccurate. Instead, he believes that self-forgiveness is enabled by "one identity seeing bi-focally, not two persons gazing from a distance upon each other" (75). Hagberg draws on literary concepts to explain his view, comparing self-forgiveness to the experience of reading fiction, wherein "we simultaneously identify with a character in fiction but also stand apart from that narratively-entwined persona" (75). For Hagberg, this narrative process is not performed by a later self that is independently distinguishable from the wrongdoing self, but is instead what constitutes the new, forgivable self. Both Goldie's and Hagberg's essays provide satisfyingly complex examples of processes of self-forgiveness. Goldie's essay is also notable for its discussion of the odd case of self-pardoning, in which one regards one's own action as involuntary on the grounds that the circumstances overstrained one's nature without actually undermining one's freedom.

Part III includes six essays that address the limits of forgiveness, that is, a variety of possible restrictions on the possibility or permissibility of forgiveness. For example, almost all theorists of forgiveness claim that forgiveness is not possible where there is no wrong. But in "Forgiveness Without Blame," Espen Gamlund defends the position that forgiveness can occur even when harm-causing is not blameworthy but rather excused or justified. Cases of agent-regret (such as the regret felt by an unlucky driver who faultlessly kills a child), disagreements over culpability between the harmed and the harm-causer, and moral dilemmas all present disruptions to peace of mind and social relations that can be solved by the sorts of interactions and changes in view that we associate with forgiveness and self-forgiveness. While critics may insist that forgiveness requires culpability by definition, Gamlund's discussion will lead many readers to find such a stipulation unsatisfying.

A major debate in the literature on forgiveness is whether forgiveness is "conditional," meaning that forgiveness is only appropriate in cases where the wrongdoer has met some sort of requirement, such as repentance or moral improvement. Jerome Neu's essay, "On Loving Our Enemies," defends the conditional view. Drawing on work by Jeffrie Murphy, Neu argues that resentment is a morally appropriate reaction to being victimized that can be set aside only for a moral reason. Also working within a conditional framework, Arne Johan Vetlesen asks whether there are cases where no moral reason could justify forgiveness and where forgiveness is, therefore, wrong. In this rather unwieldy essay, Vetlesen emphasizes the relevance of the characteristics of the wrongful acts themselves, rather than the characteristics of the agents who perform the acts, claiming that "some acts are worse, morally speaking, than any individual agent" (161).

Eve Garrard and David McNaughton, in contrast to Neu and Vetlesen, defend the position that forgiveness is unconditional by addressing objections posed by Griswold and others. The authors argue that some critics of unconditional forgiveness conflate two senses in which forgiveness can be unconditional: "(1) forgiving no matter what condition the wrongdoer is in; and (2) forgiving no matter what the reason for doing so is" (102). While defending the view that "there is sufficient reason to forgive a wrongdoer whatever his state of mind" (97), Garrard and McNaughton go on to identify reasons for extending such unmerited forgiveness. While the points made in favor of unconditional forgiveness are perhaps not novel, the skill with which the issues are explained and defended makes this essay a good candidate for course syllabuses on forgiveness.

Geoffrey Scarre strays slightly from the theme of forgiveness to look at issues of apology. In "Apologising for Historic Injustices," Scarre dives into the controversy surrounding Australia's official apology to the "Stolen Generations," which addressed the century-long practice of removing aboriginal children from their parents' care, a practice that ended only in the late 1960s or early 1970s. In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered an official apology for this history, which was met with general approval from both the aboriginal and settler populations. Scarre argues that the apology was not appropriate because the people doing the apologizing did not have "ownership" of the wrongful deeds. While he defends the legitimacy of "insider-regret," a particular form of negative reactive attitude towards one's group's historical injustices, Scarre denies that this attitude can ground the practice of apology. Debates about the nature of collective responsibility are well established in the literature and are not much advanced by the arguments to be found here. However, Scarre's essay does provide opportunity for reflection on the nature and functions of apology. Scarre's clear and straightforward account of when an apology can be given and what functions it can perform is quite narrow and so leaves the reader reflecting on what a broader concept of apology might look like.

Finally, literary scholar Jakob Lothe provides a reading of W. G. Sebald's novel Austerlitz . Sebald was a writer who was born in Germany in 1944 but who lived most of his adult life in England. His fiction and non-fiction writings have become important to current discussions of how German identity has been shaped by the memory of World War II and the Holocaust. The narrator of the novel, who, like Sebald, is a German exile of the immediate postwar generation, develops an unusual friendship with a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust as a child and is now attempting to recover the story of his parents' lives and deaths in the camps. Lothe argues that Sebald's narrative techniques reveal that the main theme of the novel is forgiveness. This claim remains puzzling for much of the essay, but by the end it becomes clear that Lothe's theme is not 'what is involved in granting forgiveness,' but instead 'what it is like to feel the need to be forgiven for the injustices of previous generations.' As such, the essay is fruitfully paired with Scarre's contribution.

Griswold, C. L., Forgiveness: A Philosophical Exploration , Cambridge University Press, (2007).

Murphy, J. G. and J. Hampton (eds.), Forgiveness and Mercy , Cambridge University Pres, (1988).

Murphy, J. G., Getting Even , Oxford University Press, (2003).

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Forgiveness Essay Examples

Forgiveness essay: what should stay in our daily life.

It isn't astonishing that forgiveness is generally looked through the theme. We live in an an imperfect world with not-so-perfect individuals. Frustration hurt, and disloyalty, if purposeful, is essential for the human experience. Forgiving and unforgiveness capably impacts each feature of our daily routines and...

The Meaning Behind "I Am Sorry" - the Power of Forgiveness

I believe in the power of forgiveness. I never really knew how to forgive someone until I learned the importance of having a relationship with your family. When someone upset me, it seemed natural to let my anger and resentment just sit. I was never...

The Transgression Crossroads: Revenge Or Forgiveness

Relationships are a major component of any individual’s life. These relationships can be social, workplace, familial or romantic. The way in which these relationships are maintained or neglected differ. This essay looks at the maintenance of romantic relationships and dealing with conflict through forgiveness, rather...

Apology: Most Efficient Ways to Bridge the Communication Gap

In any environment that involves human interaction, there are bound to be misunderstandings. Effective communication is as much about understanding as it is about conveying the message. Tone, inflection, actions, and body language are unique to the individual who possesses them and can often be...

True Love is About Forgiveness

Addiction is hard. It can make life seem bleak when you’re not under the influence. For the abuser, almost nothing else matters more than the feeling they have when the substance has taken effect. Users don’t realize what they’re doing until the lies they’ve told...

What is Sin According to the Book of Romans

The book of Romans provides clear information and instruction on sin and the sinful nature of humankind. This paper attempts to derive from the book of Romans the effects of sin and the means by which God extends His grace to forgive us, namely through...

True Nature of the Act of Forgiveness

A natural part of human life is causing interpersonal debts on other people, whether intentionally or accidentally. These debts can take the form of physical pain or emotional pain, but it has two forms of payment regardless of the form. Interpersonal debts can be either...

Pros & Cons of Social Media

Beginning from 1997, social media has grown to be a vast part of our day to day lives; whether it is enabling social and political changes or growing network worldwide, social media has expanded its avenue in every aspect of life both positively and negatively....

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