Colloquium by Zeynep Talay Turner "On Being Annoyingly Forgiving"

March 20, 2024 - Wednesday, 17:00, JF 507. 

Zeynep Talay Turner (Assistant Professor, Bilgi University)

'On Being Annoyingly Forgiving’

Abstract: The problem of forgiveness is a longstanding philosophical problem. What is forgiving? Is it possible to forgive and if so, what are the conditions of it? The answers depend on whether forgiveness involves two parties, that is, the wrong-doer and the injured-party or just one party, that is, the injured-party. The different approaches in the literature resolve themselves into ideas of conditional versus unconditional forgiveness. In the first part, I will give a general overview of these different perspectives. Thereafter I will focus on Derrida's account of forgiveness. Here we will see that though Derrida holds a broadly unconditional account of it, his differs notably from others of the same type. Finally, I will refer to Nietzsche, who suggests we abandon forgiveness altogether, on the grounds that whether it is conditional or unconditional, it is impossible or meaningless.