Statements: 321,452
Perspectives: 108,905
Topics: 42

The utterance 'I forgive you', understood as a declarative, makes it the case that one has been forgiven, thereby altering the operative norms governing the interaction between victim and wrongdoer.

?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.

1 reason for

2 reasons against

Reasons For

1 perspective

Reason for

1.Declarative utterances have the effect of changing reality in various ways.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
2.An appropriate authority can say 'I christen this ship' or 'I hereby find you guilty' and thereby make it so.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
3.Much like one can declare a debt forgiven or a criminal pardoned, one can declare that one has been forgiven by sincerely saying something like 'I forgive you'.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

Reasons Against

2 perspectives

Reason against 1 of 2

1.Forgiveness requires the overcoming of resentment, an internal psychological achievement that no verbal performance can simply constitute.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
2.Austin's declaratives presuppose institutional roles and felicity conditions; forgiveness lacks the formal authority structure that makes such utterances binding.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
3.One can sincerely utter 'I forgive you' while retaining full resentment, demonstrating the utterance and the forgiving act are distinct phenomena.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

Reason against 2 of 2

1.Bishop Butler and subsequent theorists ground forgiveness in the victim's actual attitudinal change toward the wrongdoer, not in a speech act.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
2.If declaratives sufficed for forgiveness, a victim could forgive under coercion or insincerity, which most accounts rightly treat as morally void performances.
?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

Next step

Based on where you are in your exploration

Strongest counterpoint

Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

Topics

Forgiveness & Mercy

Key Terms

Victim(as used in justice philosophy): A person who is harmed, injured, or wronged by someone else's actions.
declarative(as used in philosophy of language): A type of statement that doesn't just describe something, but actually *does* something by being said—like how saying 'I promise' makes a promise happen, not just describes one.
operative norms(as used in ethics and social philosophy): The actual rules or expectations that are currently in effect and guiding how people should act toward each other.
utterance(Contrast drawn in discussing the referent of demonstrative 'that'): A concrete event (an utterance-token), as opposed to an abstract utterance-type.
wrongdoer(as used in ethics): A person who has done something morally or legally wrong; someone who has committed an offense or harmful act.

An appropriate authority can say 'I christen this ship' or 'I hereby find you gu...Austin's declaratives presuppose institutional roles and felicity conditions; fo...Bishop Butler and subsequent theorists ground forgiveness in the victim's actual...Declarative utterances have the effect of changing reality in various ways.

+4 more

Forgiveness requires the overcoming of resentment, an internal psychological ach...If declaratives sufficed for forgiveness, a victim could forgive under coercion ...

Source

AI-extracted3/3 agreementValid

SEP: forgiveness

Warmke 2016a, 2016b; Swinburne 1989

View source passage

Used as a declarative, utterances or expressions may have the effect of (to put it crudely) changing reality in various ways. An appropriate authority might, for example, say, “I christen this ship”, or “I hereby find you guilty”. By making such an utterance, one is actually able to make it so that a ship is christened or that one is found guilty. Understood as a declarative, the utterance “I forgive you” (or one of its cognates) makes it the case that one has been forgiven, thereby altering the operative norms governing the interaction between victim and wrongdoer (Warmke 2016a, 2016b). Much ...

Extraction notes

Validity: The premises accurately reflect the passage's reasoning structure, where the general principle of declarative utterances changing reality (premise 1) is illustrated by examples (premise 2) and then applied analogically to forgiveness (premise 3), supporting the conclusion that "I forgive you" as a declarative alters norms between victim and wrongdoer.

Confidence: The analogy between declaratives generally and forgiveness as a declarative is explicitly drawn in the text.

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 3 (1 for, 2 against)
Edits: 1 edit

The utterance 'I forgive you', understood as a declarative, makes it the case that one has been forgiven, thereby altering the operative norms governing the interaction between victim and wrongdoer.

Reasons For

Reasons Against

Next step

Similar

Details