Forgiveness is an interpersonal event that presupposes the personhood of both the one who forgives and the one who receives forgiveness. It belongs to the third dimension of personhood and serves in the dissertation as a key phenomenon by which the distinctiveness of personal being is shown (Bexten 2017, p. 263 ff., 279 ff.).
Forgiveness as a personal phenomenon
Only persons can forgive, and only persons can be forgiven. Animals and machines know no forgiveness. In this it shows that forgiveness is a genuine person-behavior, one that presupposes reason, freedom, and self-consciousness.
Forgiveness and the dimensions of personhood
Forgiveness presupposes all three dimensions:
- The first dimension: substantial personhood as foundation
- The second dimension: the actus humanus — the conscious, free decision to forgive
- The third dimension: self-transcendence — the surpassing of one’s own being-wounded
Forgiveness and affirmation
In forgiveness the person affirms the other despite their guilt (affirmation). This is an especially demanding form of love, because it overcomes the natural reaction of rejection. Forgiveness thereby shows the dignity of the person in a unique way.
Forgiveness and responsibility
Forgiveness presupposes responsibility: only one who is responsible for their deeds can become guilty, and only one toward whom guilt exists can forgive. It reveals the interiority of the person — the capacity to act out of one’s own inner depth.
Philosophical classification
Karol Wojtyła emphasizes the Personalist Norm: the person is to be affirmed for their own sake. Robert Spaemann shows that without metaphysics — without recognition of personhood as ontological reality — forgiveness loses its meaning. Thomas Aquinas understands forgiveness within the framework of the doctrine of virtue.
Ontological classification: Superordinate concept: Interpersonal Relation
Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the process of restoring an interpersonal relationship broken by guilt. It presupposes three things: repentance of the guilty, forgiveness of the injured, and a common effort toward reparation. Reconciliation is thus a profoundly personal act that requires the freedom of both persons involved.
As a process, reconciliation stands in the service of interpersonality: it restores the broken relationship between persons and again makes possible the affirmation of the other as someone. Reconciliation shows that the Third Dimension of personhood — the free turning toward the other — remains possible even there where guilt has seemingly irrevocably destroyed the relationship. It is thus a testimony to the indestructibility of personal dignity and of the capacity for love.
Ontological classification
Superordinate concept: Process
Ontological relations:
- presupposes: Guilt, repentance, forgiveness
- restores: Interpersonality
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.
Further sources:
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Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 157, a. 1—4 (forgiveness within the framework of the doctrine of virtue).
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Wojtyła, Karol (1969): Osoba i czyn. Kraków (Eng.: The Acting Person, Dordrecht: Reidel, 1979) (Personalist Norm: affirmation of the person for their own sake).
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Spaemann, Robert (1996): Personen. Versuche über den Unterschied zwischen „etwas” und „jemand”. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta (Eng.: Persons: The Difference between ‘Someone’ and ‘Something’) (the metaphysical presupposition of forgiveness).
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belongs to: Third Dimension (personal phenomenon)