An Analysis and Explanation of the Concept of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of the moral concepts, which is often proposed as a virtue by modern philosophy of ethics. In Greek and Roman moral thought, this concept was not discussed as a main virtue and Greeks did not regard it among four virtues. With the advent of Jesus Christ and emphasis put on man's sinfulness by Christianity, this virtue strengthened and gradually proposed as an important and serious virtue in modern and contemporary period. Under the influence of Christ's teachings and psychological trends, some emphasized on unconditioned forgiveness while others believed that unconditioned forgiveness can have many immoral consequences. Therefore, they issued philosophical and moral warnings. Confrontation between these trends caused different discussions, the most important of which was the question: what is conceptually meant by forgiveness and what is its nature? Thus moral, philosophical, theological, psychological, metaphysical, linguistic, biological, political and social dimensions of forgiveness were taken into consideration, and exploration on these dimensions contributed, to some extent, in elaborating this concept. The present paper reflects a part of these attempts to explain the nature and essence of forgiveness and seeks to contribute in elaborating on this concept by mainly using conceptual analysis and in the form of some independent points.