Forgiveness and Love

Contempt and the Cultivation of Character

“…Imagine that Jaime is in the waiting room with Mrs. Turpin. The emotional logic of anger is fully compatible with, say, Jaime being angry with Mrs. Turpin for her superbia and not just for her superbic actions (see Pettigrove , 40–47). Indeed, Mary Grace herself exhibits such character‐directed anger.…”

“…In addition to its perceptual aspect, love has a desiderative aspect: a dispositional desire for the other's wellbeing (Pettigrove , 86–95; Roberts , 294). This aspect of love is reflected in the term “benevolence”: good will.…”

“…Instead, I stand with Martin Luther King, Jr., who thought that “love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate;”—or contempt with contempt?—“we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity” (1981, 54; quoted in Pettigrove , 139).…”

“…Representatives include Kierkegaard ; Murdoch , 100; Nussbaum , 261–364; Pettigrove , 77–86; and Roberts , 286–89.…”

“…Pettigrove argues that forgiving a wrongdoer (even without the prior repentance of the wrongdoer) can function in much the same way, since forgiving communicates to the wrongdoer that there is a “moral failing that stands in need of forgiving” (Pettigrove , 120).…”