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PUNISHMENT, FORGIVENESS, AND MERCY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2019

Jeffrie G. Murphy*
Affiliation:
Regents’ Professor of Law, Philosophy, and Religious Studies, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

Abstract

Forgiveness and mercy are often thought of as acts that we perform or gifts that we bestow. In this essay the author focuses on character and explores the implications for punishment if one focuses on having a character that is merciful and forgiving in disposition. He argues that the tension that is often thought to exist between justice, on the one hand, and forgiveness and mercy, on the other, is lessened by focusing on the virtue of having a forgiving and merciful character.

Information

Type
Essay
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2019

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