About the Book
This collection embodies a debate that explores what could be characterised as the tension between judging and understanding. It seems that after a particular threshold of understanding of the basic facts leading to a given moral transgression, the more we understand the context and motives leading to crime, the more likely we are to abstain from harsh retributive judgement. Martha Nussbaum’s essay `Equity and Mercy’, included in this collection, is the philosophical starting point of this debate, and Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader – a novel exploring the tension between judging and understanding, among other things – is used as a case study by most contributors. Some contributors, situated at one end of the spectrum of views represented in this collection, argue for the wholesale elimination of our practices of retribution in the light of the tension between judging and understanding, while contributors on the other side of the spectrum argue that the tension does not actually exist. A whole array of intermediate positions, including Nussbaum’s, are represented.
This anthology is comprised of nearly all specially commissioned essays bringing together work dealing with the moral, metaphysical, epistemological and phenomenological issues required for properly understanding whether in fact there is a tension between judging and understanding and what the moral and legal implications may be of accepting or rejecting this tension.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction. Part I Narrative, Explanation and Forgiveness: The Limits of Condemnation: Equity and mercy, Martha Nussbaum; Explanation and condemnation, Ward E. Jones; Understanding 'understanding' in The Reader, Brian Penrose; Living with the self: self-judgement and self-understanding, Samantha Vice; The case for moral complexity, Marc Fellman. Part II Free Will, Determinism and Moral Responsibility: Challenging Retributive Judgment: Moved movers: transfiguring judgment practices, Pedro Alexis Tabensky; Philosophy, determinism and moral responsibility in times of atrocity, Chandra Kumar; Is to understand to forgive or at least not to blame?, Kai Nielsen; The real me, Jonathan McKeown-Green. Part III The Ethical Function of Condemnation: Judging because understanding: a defence of retributive censure, Thaddeus Metz; Understanding condemnation: a plea for appropriate judgement, Peta Bowden and Emma Rooksby; Humanizing evil-doers, Andrew Gleeson; The unbearable space of Schlink's persona, Richard H. Weisberg. Index.
About the Author :
Pedro Alexis Tabensky is Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Rhodes University, South Africa Martha Nussbaum, Ward E. Jones, Brian Penrose, Samantha Vice, Marc Fellman, Pedro Alexis Tabensky, Chandra Kumar, Kai Nielsen, Jonathan McKeown-Green, Thaddeus Metz, Peta Bowden, Emma Rooksby, Andrew Gleeson, Richard H. Weisberg.
Review :
'Judging and Understanding is an excellent collection addressing one of the most burning epistemological questions of our time: how do we human beings make valid claims to knowledge and truth? The essays in this book address all the current debates from pragmatism to hermeneutics and stands as an indispensable tool for people in the philosophy of science and the social sciences, given the richness of the collection.' Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University 'This collection explores the issues surrounding the proverb, "To understand is to forgive". The authors take a highly eclectic and interdisciplinary approach, and the result is a rich, suggestive, and engaging work, which draws on wide-ranging resources. Despite its eclecticism, the book achieves considerable thematic unity insofar as many of the authors employ Bernard Schlink's novel, The Reader, as a focal point. This book is recommended for those interested in more abstract issues at the foundations of morality and the criminal law (free will and moral responsibility), as well as people interested in the applications of such ideas in morality and the law.' John Martin Fischer, University of California Riverside, USA 'In summary, Judging and Understanding is an inspiring book,shedding light on an important and often neglected theme from very different angles. It should be of interest to anybody working on responsibility and free will issues. Since each paper is provided with a helpful comment by the editor explaining the relevant points and situating it in the debate, this collection is very accessible and can be recommended for students and a non-academic readership as well.' Metapsychology Online Reviews 'One of the many strengths of the collection is its thematic unity and focus, and its exploration of literature as a resource for philosophical stimulation and vehicle for conveying important truths about the human condition. The idea that literature is an especially fecund resource for moral philosophy is well established, and Judging and Understanding is an excellent exemplar of this approach at its best.' Philosophical Papers
