Metaphysical implications of forgiveness - Essay ExampleZaibert argues against Kolnai’s explanation.2 Although the author does not argue against Derrida’s explanation, Zaibert does agree with what Derrida supposedly had in mind. Thus, he goes beyond and argues that “to forgive is to deliberately refuse to punish� (Zaibert 368). We merely choose or decide whether or nor to forgive on the basis of deliberating on a guilty person’s punishment. If we choose to forgive the person, we thus avoid punishment. It is in this regard that Zaibert contends that forgiveness is a purely mental phenomenon.3 Given this mode of analysis, he contends that the paradox of forgiveness is not so much of a paradox after all. Or is it?In this essay, I shall provide a critique of Zaibert’s solution to the paradox in the light of the philosophy of action. In doing so, I shall focus on his definition of forgiveness as a pure mental act, in relation to his defense that to forgive a person is to intentionally refuse to punish that person.
