Forgiveness and Retribution: Responding to Wrongdoing argues that ultimately, forgiveness is always the appropriate response to wrongdoing. In recent decades, many philosophers have claimed that unless certain conditions are met, we should resent those who have wronged us personally and that criminal offenders deserve to be punished. Conversely, Margaret Holmgren posits that we should forgive those who have ill-treated us, but only after working through a process of addressing the wrong. Holmgren then reflects on the kinds of laws (...) and social practices a properly forgiving society would adopt. (shrink)

Background Despite its negative impact on patients and nurses, the use of restraint in somatic health care continues in many settings. Understanding the reasons and justifications for the use of restraint among nurses is crucial in order to manage this challenge. Aim To understand nurses’ justifications for restraint use in neurosurgical care. Research design A qualitative, descriptive design was used. Data were analysed with inductive qualitative content analysis. Participants and research context Semi-structured interviews with 15 nurses working in three neurosurgical (...) departments in Sweden. Ethical considerations Approved by The Regional Ethics Committee, Stockholm, Sweden. Findings The analysis resulted in three categories. The category Patient factors influencing restraint use describes patient factors that trigger restraint, such as a diminished decision-making competence, restlessness, and need for invasive devices. The category Specific reasons for justifying restraint describes reasons for restraining patients, such as restraint being used for the sake of the patient or for the sake of others. The category General reasoning in justifying restraint describes how nurses reason when using restraint, and the decision to use restraint was often based on a consequentialist approach where the nurses’ weighed the pros and cons of different alternatives. Discussion Nurses with experience of restraint use were engaged in a constant process of justifying and balancing different options and actions. Restraint was considered legitimate if the benefit exceeded the suffering, but decisions on which restraint measures to use and when to use them depended on the values of the individual nurse. Conclusion How nurses reason when justifying restraint, why they use restraint, and who they use restraint on must be considered when creating programs and guidelines to reduce the use of restraint and to ensure that when it is used it is used carefully, appropriately, and with respect. (shrink)

Punishment and restitution are usually viewed as separate paradigms of criminal justice. However, in this dissertation I suggest that a practice of legal punishment can be justified in the context of a criminal justice system based exclusively on the criminal's obligation to make restitution for the losses he has wrongfully inflicted on others. My strategy is to show first that those who commit crimes bring about a significant loss for the members of their community in addition to harming the immediate (...) victims of their crimes, and second, that a practice of legal punishment constitutes a means by which criminals can make restitution to the members of the community for this loss. I suggest, then, that the members of the community are morally justified in instituting a practice of legal punishment in order to exact restitution for the loss they suffer as a result of criminal violations. ;The dissertation provides a reasonably systematic development of a restitutive theory of punishment. I begin by critically examining the major approaches that have been taken to the justification of punishment in order to provide some preliminary justification for taking a particular approach to this issue. I then outline a conception of justice that forms the basis of the theory of punishment I suggest. The central chapter contains an analysis of the different types of losses that result from criminal violations and a moral argument that justifies requiring criminals to make restitution for all of these losses. I also argue that given certain conditions, legal punishment constitutes a legitimate means by which the members of the community can exact restitution for the loss they have suffered. In the remainder of the dissertation I show that a restitutive theory of punishment both captures and illuminates much of the retributivist position, and I work out several of the specific implications of this analysis for the way in which a practice of legal punishment ought to be articulated. (shrink)

The gifted education research area is rapidly expanding in Sweden. In the context of very limited research nationally, demands are increasing for steering documents and addressing of student and teacher needs in practice. However, Swedish research on students that are ‘twice exceptional’—students classified as being both gifted and disabled (for instance, through a neurodevelopmental disorder such as ADHD)—is nearly non-existent. In this study, we present an exploratory single case study of a female student in school year seven based on semi-structured (...) individual interviews with the student and her two guardians regarding her educational situation. The data were first inductively coded and triangulated in collaboration between three of the authors. A fourth author later independently and deductively coded one-third of the data based on the previously inductively determined thematic structure and conducted a consensus interrater reliability check, exceeding 85% percent agreement. The three main themes are as follows: (1) multiplex perspectives on academic outcomes and expectations, (2) the intersection between twice exceptionality and academic work, and (3) information and perceptions about twice exceptionality. The results indicate several educational challenges and opportunities for twice exceptional students. Further research is needed regarding twice exceptional students in Sweden. (shrink)

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction and overview; 2. The nature of forgiveness and resentment; 3. The moral analysis of the attitudes of forgiveness and resentment defined; 4. The moral analysis of the attitudes of self-forgiveness and self-condemnation; 5. Philosophical underpinnings of the basic attitudes: forgiveness, resentment, and the nature of persons; 6. Moral theory: justice and desert; 7. The public response to wrongdoing; 8. Restorative justice: the public response to wrongdoing and the process of addressing the wrong.

The community of faith finds blessing for itself when it gives due weight to the Old Testament insight that nearness to God is found by those who, like Job and Jacob, assertively engage the Covenant Partner.

Retributivism Has a Past: Has It a Future? is the first volume of a series to be published by Oxford University Press: Studies in Penal Theory and Philosophy. Clearly the series is off to a fine st...

Restraint is regularly used in somatic healthcare settings, and countries have chosen different paths to regulate restraint in somatic healthcare. One overarching problem when regulating restraint is to ensure that patients with reduced decision-making capacity receive the care they need and at the same time ensure that patients with a sufficient degree of decision-making capacity are not forced into care that they do not want. Here, arguments of justice, trust in the healthcare system, minimising harm and respecting autonomy are contrasted (...) with different national regulations. We conclude that a regulation that incorporates an assessment of patients’ decision-making capacity and considers the patient’s best interests is preferable, in contrast to regulations based on psychiatric diagnoses or regulations where there are no legal possibilities to exercise restraint at all in somatic care. (shrink)

In a well-known series of articles, Norman Daniels has drawn a contrast between wide reflective equilibrium and a more traditional method of theory acceptance in ethics that would be employed by a sophisticated moral intuitionist. The more traditional method is geared towards achieving a narrow equilibrium, or ‘an ordered pair of a set of considered moral judgments acceptable to a given person P at a given time, and a set of moral principles that economically systematizes.’ Although we might achieve narrow (...) reflective equilibrium by deducing particular moral judgments from self-evident moral principles, the more plausible approach is to start from our particular moral judgments. Here we begin by screening our intial moral judgments to eliminate those in which we have little confidence and those made under circumstances conducive to error. We then search for general moral principles that best account for the remaining ‘considered’ moral judgments. (shrink)

The aims of this study were to present themes in nursing motifs as depicted in tattoos and to describe how it reflects upon nursing in popular culture as well as within professional nursing culture. An archival and cross‐sectional observational study was conducted online to search for images of nursing tattoos that were freely available, by utilizing the netnographic methodology. The 400 images were analyzed in a process that consisted of four analytical steps focusing on metaphors and meanings in the tattoos. (...) The findings present four themes: angels of mercy and domination; hegemonic nursing technology; embodying the corps; and nurses within the belly of the monster. The tattoos serve as a mirror of popular culture and the professional culture of nurses and nursing practice within the context of body art. Body art policy statements have been included in nursing personnel dress code policies. Usually these policies prohibit tattoos that are sexist, symbolize sex or could contribute and reproduce racial oppression. The results show that the tattoos can be interpreted according to several layers of meanings in relation to such policies. We therefore stress that this is an area highly relevant for further analyses in nursing research. (shrink)

This concise anthology collects important historical and contemporary readings on the central ethical theories, including Divine Command Theory, Consequentialism, Deontology, Virtue Ethics, and Feminist Ethics. Each section includes two or three of the most important contributions to the field, together with brief introductions from the editors. This new third edition offers expanded coverage of meta-ethics through the addition of thought-provoking readings from Susan Wolf, Gilbert Harman, and others. The number of selections from women authors has also increased.

W.V.O. Quine and A.N. Whitehead shared a dualistic ontology of concrete and abstract objects but differed sharply on the status of properties. In this essay, we explore Whitehead’s reasons for admitting properties into his ontology and Quine’s objections. In the course of examining Quine’s position we demonstrate some deficiencies in his position and conclude that in spite of his claims, neither space-time coordinate systems nor classes can do all the ontological work of properties.

The community of faith finds blessing for itself when it gives due weight to the Old Testament insight that nearness to God is found by those who, like Job and Jacob, assertively engage the Covenant Partner.

This study seeks to understand, in the context of intersectional theory, the roles of family members in nursing home care. The unique social locus at which each person sits is the result of the intersection of gender, status, ethnicity and class; it is situational, shifting with the context of every encounter. A content analysis of 15 qualitative interviews with relatives of nursing home residents in Sweden was used to gain a perspective on the relationships between relatives and residents, relatives and (...) the nursing home as an institution, and relatives and the nursing home staff. We sought to understand these relationships in terms of gendered notions of the family and the residents, which are handed down from generation to generation and thus condition who and how relatives should be involved in care, and the ways in which relationships change as care moves from home to nursing home. It requires knowledge and awareness that the nursing home culture is based on intersectional power structures in order for relatives to be involved in nursing home care in alternative and individual ways. (shrink)

In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus trades in the language of hyperbole: The Pharisee and the tax collector are both caricatures of a particular way of responding to God. In itself each of these ways is not without its legitimacy. Nevertheless, the reason the Pharisee incurs God's disapproval in Jesus9 parable has to do with his misuse of religious tradition: Keeping the tradition becomes the means by which he exalts himself over others. Still, the tax (...) collector, too, can stand as a warning: Lamenting one's sins, if it does not lead to commensurate action, merely becomes an exercise in cheap grace. (shrink)

This anthology is designed for use as a brief introduction to ethical theory. Included are sections on various forms of ethical theory: Ethical Relativism; Divine Command Theory; Egoism; Consequentialism; Deontology; Justice; Virtue Ethics; Feminist Ethics; and, new to the second edition, Pluralism. Each section includes two or three of the most important and interesting contributions to the field, together with brief introductions by the editors. The second edition contains an improved approach to applied ethics. Whereas in the first edition the (...) authors included a chapter at the end of the book that contained selections that dealt with moral problems, in the second edition they have dropped that chapter in favour of an approach that ties moral issues more closely to the moral theories. Each chapter on moral theories now includes a selection that deals with a moral problem, such as human cloning, abortion, and global warming. The selection illustrates how the relevant theoretical approach is put to use. There is therefore a much tighter integration between theory and practice than before. The new structural approach should make the book significantly more effective in the classroom. The new edition also contains an improved section on feminist ethical theory. (shrink)

This anthology is designed for use as a brief introduction to ethical theory. Included are sections on various forms of ethical theory: Ethical Relativism; Divine Command Theory; Egoism; Consequentialism; Deontology; Justice; Virtue Ethics; and Feminist Ethics. Each section includes two or three of the most important and interesting contributions to the field, together with brief introductions by the editors. A final section, Theories in Practice, consists of five selections on the issues of abortion, world poverty, and affirmative action.

People consistently act in ways that harm the environment, even when believing their actions are environmentally friendly. A case in point is a biased judgment termed the negative footprint illusion, which arises when people believe that the addition of “eco-friendly” items to conventional items, reduces the total carbon footprint of the whole item-set, whereas the carbon footprint is, in fact, increased because eco-friendly items still contribute to the overall carbon footprint. Previous research suggests this illusion is the manifestation of an (...) “averaging-bias.” We present two studies that explore whether people’s susceptibility to the negative footprint illusion is associated with individual differences in: environment-specific reasoning dispositions measured in terms of compensatory green beliefs and environmental concerns; or general analytic reasoning dispositions measured in terms of actively open-minded thinking, avoidance of impulsivity and reflective reasoning. A negative footprint illusion was demonstrated when participants rated the carbon footprint of conventional buildings combined with eco-friendly buildings and conventional cars combined with eco-friendly cars. However, the illusion was not identified in participants’ ratings of the carbon footprint of apples. In Studies 1 and 2, environment-specific dispositions were found to be unrelated to the negative footprint illusion. Regarding reflective thinking dispositions, reduced susceptibility to the negative footprint illusion was only associated with actively open-minded thinking measured on a 7-item scale and 17-item scale. Our findings provide partial support for the existence of a negative footprint illusion and reveal a role of individual variation in reflective reasoning dispositions in accounting for a limited element of differential susceptibility to this illusion. (shrink)

Holmgren’s position is that the attitudes of forgiveness and compassion, when achieved by requisite moral and emotional work through other feelings, are always appropriate responses to wrongdoing, regardless of any conditions a wrongdoer may meet or fail to meet. In this review I disagree with her arguments for unconditional forgiveness. But one need not agree with her to appreciate Holmgren’s attentive reasoning as she maps the architecture of the field of forgiveness and her place in with lucidity and (...) usually, but not always, accuracy, as I explain. (shrink)

Margaret R. Holmgren. Forgiveness and Retribution: Responding to Wrongdoing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, vii +297 pp. In the Old Testament, forgiveness is a divine prerogative. Onl...

For three centuries the primary aspiration of Western governments has been constant economic growth but with the Industrial Revolution this objective became troublesome. In the 20thcentury unprecedented levels of industrial production and social consumption caused palpable harm to humans and the environment. Hannah Arendt and John Kenneth Galbraith turned their pens to such concerns and Bill Mollison and David Holmgren advocated a permaculture approach to growth, one that strives to limit human interference in natural growth processes. Today’s precarious economic (...) and ecological imbalances could be stabilized by a shift in applied growth paradigms, from capitalist to permaculturist.Depuis trois siècles, les gouvernements occidentaux aspirent à une croissance économique constante. À la suite de la Revolution industrielle, cet objectif est devenu troublant. Au cours du 20e siècle, les niveaux de production et de consommation sans précédent sont devenus manifestement malsains pour les êtres humains et dangereux pour l’environnement. Hannah Arendt et John Kenneth Galbraith se sont intéressés à ce sujet. De même, Bill Mollison et David Holmgren ont recommandé d’appliquer à la croissance économique une stratégie semblable à la permaculture, qui cherche à limiter l’intervention humaine dans les processus naturels de croissance. Les circonstances écologiques et économiques précaires d’aujourd’hui pourraient être stabilisées par un virage appliqué d’un modèle capitaliste à un modèle permaculturiste. (shrink)

This paper constructs a theory of Christian forgiveness and argues that contemporary philosophical analyses of forgiveness have failed to capture its essential character. First, I provide a summary of the general view of forgiveness developed by contemporary philosophers (e.g., Jeffrie Murphy, Jean Hampton, Patrick Boleyn-Fitzgerald, Paul Hughes, Margaret Holmgren, Trudy Govier, Joanna North, Robert Roberts, and Charles Griswold). Second, I highlight the central differences between these general contemporary views and a genuine Christian conception of forgiveness. Finally, I argue that (...) two reasons for these irreconcilable differences are the following: first, contemporary philosophical analyses have evered the virtue of forgivingness from central Christian virtues, particularly the moral virtue of temperance and the theological virtue of charity; and second, contemporary philosophical analyses’ paradigmatic case does not (and cannot) take into account the proper tri-personal Christian context (i.e., God, victim, and offender) within which Christian forgiveness must be understood. (shrink)