The Politics of Mercy, Forgiveness and Love
A Nietzschean Appraisal
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11420439 |
|---|---|
| Authors | ichael Ure (The University of Queensland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 55-68 |
| Publication date | 2007-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South African Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0258-0136 • E-ISSN: 2073-4867 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.4314/sajpem.v26i1.31462 |
| OpenAlex | W2166686930 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 15 |
This paper critically examines Hannah Arendt’s claim that we should conceive forgiveness as a specifically political or worldly virtue. According to Arendt, the virtue of forgiveness is necessary if we are to halt the reactive rancour that always threatens to destroy the space of politics. This paper suggests that in building her case for the politics of forgiveness Arendt confusingly intermingles three conceptual threads - mercy, Christian forgiveness and forgiveness driven by eros. Drawing on Nietzsche’s scattered analyses of these threads, it argues that all three of these modalities of forgiveness jeopardize rather than restore the circuits of mutual recognition that are integral to democratic communities. Nietzsche shows that these shadings of unconditional or unilateral forgiveness do not necessarily arise from a will to live together, as Arendt assumes, but are anchored in and oriented by our need to console ourselves for the narcissistic wounding we inevitably suffer in the struggle for recognition
Democracy · Epistemology · Forgiveness · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Theology · Virtue · Forgiveness and Related Behaviors · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics · Psychology
Hannah Arendt
An Ethic For Enemies
The Ethics of Memory
Demos Agonistes Redux
Pity and Mercy
"'Twilight of the Idols' and 'The Anti-Christ,'" by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. with introd. and commentary by R. J. Hollingdale
Human, All too Human. A Book for Free Spirits
Forgiveness and Mercy
The Human Condition
The Two Faces of Justice
Beyond Good and Evil
Political Grounds for Forgiveness
Upheavals of Thought
The Limits of Forgiveness and the Ends of Politics
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,17 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2025 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |