Full Description
Arguments for forgiveness, mercy, and clemency abound. These arguments flourish in organized religion, fiction, philosophy, and law as well as in everyday conversations of daily life among parents and children, teachers and students, and criminals and those who judge them. As common as these arguments are, we are often left with an incomplete understanding of what we mean when we speak about them. This volume examines the registers of individual psychology, religious belief, social practice, and political power circulating in and around those who forgive, grant mercy, or pose clemency power. The authors suggest that, in many ways, necessary examinations of the questions of forgiveness and pardon and the connection between mercy and justice are only just beginning.
Contents
Table of Contents Toward New Theoretical Perspectives on Forgiveness, Mercy, and Clemency: An Introduction Nasser Hussain and Austin Sarat Tempering or Tampering? Mercy and the Administration of Criminal Justice Carol S. Steiker Should Mercy Have a Place in Clemency Decisions Daniel T. Kobil The Merciful State Linda Ross Meyer Revising the Past: On The Metaphysics of Repentance, Forgiveness, and Pardon Meir Dan-Cohen Comparative National Blaming: W.G. Sebald on the Bombing of Germany Bruce Robbins Keeping the Peace Adam Sitze Index
