If forgiveness and excuse both achieve the same moral psychological endpoint—the relinquishment of resentment—their conceptual distinctness reduces to a difference of degree, not kind.

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Conceptual distinctness(as used in logic and philosophy of language): The quality of being clearly separate and different from something else in meaning or definition.
Forgiveness(as used in ethics): The act of letting go of anger or resentment toward someone who has hurt you, and choosing not to hold their wrongdoing against them anymore.
Moral psychology(as used in ethics): The study of how human emotions, desires, and reasoning actually work together when we make ethical choices.
Relinquishment(as used in the statement): The act of giving up or letting go of something, like a feeling or claim.
difference of degree vs. difference of kind(as used in metaphysics and logic): A 'difference of degree' means things are variations on the same basic thing (like hot vs. cold water—both still water), while a 'difference of kind' means they are fundamentally different categories (like water vs. ice—different states entirely).
excuse(Aquinas's conscience theory): Removes or mitigates culpability for an action; distinct from binding, which concerns obligation
resentment(Proposed within the no-priority view discussion of wrongness): A specific form of anger conceptually restricted to cases that are founded on moral reasons, particularly wrongness.

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