Original Forgiveness

“Original Forgiveness is a rich intellectual feast, its pages filled with equally adept and illuminating readings of texts philosophical and literary. Its argument about the nature of ‘forgiveness’ prior to injury or resentment is truly original, in every sense, as is its discussion of the deep relationship between forgiveness and trust. This is a remarkable and wise book that reveals how, why, and when we forgive and trust.” —Ashraf H. A. Rushdy, author of After Injury: A Historical Anatomy of Forgiveness, Resentment, and Apology

“A beautiful series of reflections on forgiveness as an originary openness and trust in the world. de Warren moves between philosophy and literature to explore the possibility of responding to the unforgivable in a way that neither sanctions wrong-doing nor forecloses redemption.” —Lisa Guenther, author of Solitary Confinement: Social Death and Its Afterlives

“This is a bold and original meditation on forgiveness, trust, and their mutual dependence . . . This moving and unconventional work will challenge contemporary assumptions of private as well as political morality.” —Susan Neiman, author of Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil

“Drawing on an impressive range of resources, de Warren’s work is a significant contribution to philosophical reflection on the nature and experience of trust and forgiveness, and an insightful and welcome reading of Levinas’s radical ethic, teasing out the implications of original responsibility through its inevitable failures and the unavoidable question of forgiveness.” —Fiona Utley, Phenomenological Reviews