On Forgiveness and Revenge
Lessons from an Iranian Prison
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Upon his release from Iran's notorious Evin Prison, philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo contemplated the words of Mandela as he grappled with demons arising from being unjustly imprisoned. He then began to wrestle with ideas of forgiveness versus revenge, and wondered if the politics of forgiveness could offer salvation in a world where revenge endangers the social and political fabric of our lives. "What is forgiveness, and how do we get there?" Jahanbegloo asks, in this follow-up to his internationally celebrated book Time Will Say Nothing: A Philosopher Survives an Iranian Prison. Prevailing upon the wisdom of the Ancients, the Dalai Lama, and other great thinkers, this meditation on forgiveness and revenge offers insights into building a more peaceful world during this time of nationalism and exclusion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philosopher and York University professor Jahanbegloo revisits his experience of 125 days in solitary confinement in an Iranian prison as recounted in his 2014 memoir Time Will Say Nothing but this time his focus is on considering forgiveness for his captors. Jahanbegloo's rousing call to forgiveness as a social imperative comes with the strong caveat that people must never forget wrongs that have been committed lest they be allowed to happen again. He threads a myriad of references into his thesis, citing G.K. Chesterton, Shakespeare, Aristotle, Zoroaster, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Jesus, among others. The text explores the theme of forgiveness from different schools of thought, religions, and cultures. Jahanbegloo does not shy away from the hard truths of today's sociopolitical situation, and his book is a bold attempt to come to terms with the realities of terrorism, fanaticism, and ideological excess driven by anger and the lust for revenge. Although some passages are overly complex and difficult to follow, the work succeeds as a clarion call for forgiveness as a viable cure to social ills. By the end, any facile or sentimental notions of forgiveness are banished, leaving only a robust, even pragmatic argument for a possible path to peace.
