• Forgiveness as Absolution: A New Model of Forgiveness
    Dissertation, The University of New Mexico. 2000.
    In this work I examine contemporary philosophical accounts of forgiveness and then develop an alternative account in which forgiveness is considered an act of absolution that alters the relation of moral debt between wrongdoer and victim. This model differs from the traditional model, which focuses on the victim's forswearing and overcoming resentment towards the wrongdoer. My model has several advantages over the traditional model: it explains the victim's special ability to forgive; it explain…Read more