Ask Dr. Forgiveness
How important is the forgiver’s motivation for considering forgiveness?
To forgive, at least in part, is an act of the will. We need to be motivated to exercise that will. Thus, the motivation to forgive is very important. Without that, the person may quit the forgiveness process when it requires hard work and focus.
Some people say they have no one particular to forgive in their lives, and so forgiveness is not relevant for them. What would you say to them?
I would say that they are very fortunate, indeed, not to have a serious injustice from another. I further would say that this kind of life will not last forever because of the nature of this world. So, please begin to learn about forgiveness now so that when the storms of life come, you will be ready.
My mother has been diagnosed with a mental illness, Borderline Personality Disorder. She is constantly accusing me of stealing her money, which I have not done. I am getting exasperated. Can I actually forgive her? I ask because she probably is not giving full consent of her free will to these thoughts.
You raise an important point about whether or not we can forgive if there was no intention to harm. I think it is appropriate to forgive in some cases even if there was no intention to harm. Here is one example: Smith is not paying attention while driving and hits and seriously injures Jones. Smith explains that he was distracted and did not mean it. Yet, in this circumstance, given the dire consequences that can occur when someone is distracted while driving, this action (driving while distracted) is an injustice. Therefore, Jones can go ahead with forgiveness even though there was no intent to harm.
In your mother’s case, she may not realize the depth of hurt she is causing you because of the Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms, but even so, a mother should not be treating her daughter with disrespect and in a consistently unjust way by stealing money repeatedly. This is an injustice and so you can forgive your mother. As a final point, the Borderline diagnosis suggests that your mother does have awareness at least to a degree of her actions (“borderline” means that she sometimes is rational and sometimes not) and so she may be aware at least at times of the impact of her actions on you. If this is the case, then she may (at times) be intentional in her stealing behavior. You should go ahead and forgive if you are ready.
Plato repeatedly stated that justice is the central virtue. Would you agree and if so, does this mean that forgiveness is less important than the seeking of justice?
While Plato did state that justice is the central virtue, it was Aristotle who reminded us that we never should practice any one virtue in isolation of the others. Thus, justice and forgiveness are of great importance because they balance each other. In other words, justice by itself can be cold and even uncaring. Forgiveness by itself could make us vulnerable to the cruelty of others as we fail to know how to seek a fair solution. I would rather not choose, then, between the two. Let them grow up together for the good of individuals and communities.
I hear colleagues tell me that it is child abuse to impose the education of forgiveness on unsuspecting students. How would you answer such a charge?
Good philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom. Good education is the same. Part of being wise is to know how to control one’s anger, to reduce resentment, and to forge healthy relationships in the home and in the community. Forgiveness, seen in scientific studies, is one effective way of reducing resentment and fostering better behavior and relationships. If we then deprive a child of this part of wisdom, are we somehow aiding that child’s development or stifling it? Teaching about forgiveness is far from child abuse. Deliberately withholding knowledge of forgiveness is educational deprivation, which should happen to no child.
