When we ask
forgiveness from someone, what do we want from him? When someone forgives, what
happens? To whom can the power be forgiven and what happens if he refuses to
use it?
The subject
of forgiveness raises many questions, one of which is the so-called
"paradox of forgiveness" which can be described as follows: forgiveness
is possible only where there is injustice. The more there is to forgive, the
less justification there is for forgiveness, because the greater the injustice,
the more the offender harms, and the more the victim is harmed.
The
French-Jewish philosopher Jacques Derride, one of the proponents of the paradox
of forgiveness, argued that "only the unforgivable can be forgiven"
(in an article entitled "Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness") He is one
who does not justify forgiveness, and therefore cannot be forgiven. There is in
forgiveness then something that goes beyond the ordinary, the logical, the
required, something that should not happen, forgiveness that should not be
accepted, but in some miraculous way does.
Another
problem that Derrida points to in the context of forgiveness is that the
statement "I forgive you" can actually be a forceful expression of
superiority. In forgiveness the forgiver takes upon himself the power of
forgiveness and uses his generosity in order to leave himself in a position of
power and the forgiven in a position of submission. For Derrida "pure
forgiveness" is "forgiveness without power", it is an
unconditional forgiveness given without a claim to hierarchy and without
placing anyone above the other. It is a forgiveness given to a person
unconditionally, without demanding anything from him in return or leaving him
committed to that forgiveness. This is the impossible forgiveness, and for
Derrida, this is the only forgiveness there is.
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