The limits of forgiveness

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sean Illing talks with philosopher Lucy Allais about the nature, power, and limits of forgiveness. They talk about the role of forgiveness in the dissolution of apartheid in Allais's native South Africa, the distinction between forgiveness and punishment, and the prospect of using forgiveness as a political tool in order to move forward as a polarized democracy. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox Guest: Lucy Allais, professor of philosophy, University of Witwatersrand and Johns Hopkins University References: "Elective Forgiveness" by Lucy Allais (International Journal of Philosophical Studies, v. 21 (5); 2013) "Forgiveness and Mercy" by Lucy Allais (South African Journal of Philosophy, v. 27 (1); 2008) "Forgiveness and Meaning in Life" by Lucy Allais, in The Oxford Handbook of Meaning in Life, ed. Iddo Landau (Oxford University Press; 2022) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Sofi LaLonde Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.9	What are the limits of forgiveness? I'm Sean Elling and I'm your host for Vox Conversations.
1:20.8	He's almost been now at this point to say that we live in a very polarized society.
1:26.9	But we have to keep saying it because it's an obstacle to solving almost every major
1:31.5	political problem. From voting rights to public health issues to climate change, we simply
1:37.5	can't move forward if half the population hates the other half. Conflict is part of democratic
1:44.8	politics. And this is a big country with lots of people who hold totally incompatible
1:50.5	visions of the future. But we need a political system that can manage these differences
1:56.9	without sacrificing its basic legitimacy. This will require lots of work at the policy
2:03.8	level. It will also require something on the individual level, namely forgiveness or
	...

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