Holloway, Richard. Sobre el perdó. Com podem perdonar l’imperdonable? Barcelona: International Catalan Institute for Peace; Líniazero, 2020.
What are the mechanisms that lead to forgiveness? Where does it come from? What motivates it? Richard Holloway reflects on the complexity of forgiveness from a personal and political perspective and tackles the great challenge of how to respond to and forgive what we consider unforgiveable. He shows that the need to forgive becomes greater than ever when we are able to free ourselves from the binds of the past. Applying his reasoning to real and historical examples, Holloway examines the vision of forgiveness of a large number of prominent figures in philosophy and thought, such as Steiner, Nietzsche, Derrida, Arendt and Mandela, as well as numerous quotes from biblical sources and poetic works.
Holloway speaks of forgiveness in an unconditional sense. If historical complexity often make it impossible to forgive specific actions and people, we are left with the dilemma of either insisting on a corrective justice or, more radically, forgiving unconditionally. The idea is not to forget the unforgiveable deeds but rather to address them in another manner that does not perpetuate retaliation.
The author
Richard Holloway (1933) is a writer, communicator and the author of more than twenty books in which he serenely reflects on ethics, religion or death. He was the Bishop of Edinburgh for fourteen years and head of the Scottish Episcopal Church until he resigned. Since then he has become a very influential figure on issues related to religious beliefs in the modern world. He has written for numerous British newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Observer, the Herald and The Scotsman. He has also hosted several BBC radio and television programs.