Abstract
Our attitudes toward human culpability for environmental problems have moral and emotional import, influencing our basic capacities for believing cooperative action and environmental repair are even possible. In this paper, I suggest that having the virtue of forgivingness as a response to environmental harm is generally good for moral character, preserving us from morally risky varieties of pessimism and despair. I define forgivingness as a forward-looking disposition based on Robin Dillon’s conception of preservative forgiveness, a preparation to be deeply and abidingly accepting yet expecting human error. As with other virtues, however, preservative forgiveness is available to some of us more than others; in the second half of this paper, I consider the deep challenge posed by rational pessimism, especially on the part of those who have been given many reasons not to hope for the very moral improvements for which they strive. I conclude that for those of us with the power roles and personal resources especially conducive to environmental activism, preservative forgiveness inclines us to remain engaged in environmental activism with fellow flawed human beings, recognizing our own mutual depredations while committing us to cooperatively respond.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aristotle. (1999). Nicomachean ethics. (trans: T. Irwin). 2nd ed., Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company.
Badhwar, N. K. (1996). The limited unity of virtue. Noûs, 30(3), 306–329.
Bowler, M., & Brass, D. J. (2006). Relational correlates of interpersonal citizenship behavior: A social network perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 70–82.
Brison, S. (2002). Aftermath: Violence and the remaking of a self. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Denton, R. T., & Martin, M. W. (1998). Defining forgiveness: An empirical exploration of process and role. American Journal of Family Therapy, 26(4), 281–292.
Dillon, R. (2001). Self-forgiveness and self-respect. Ethics, 112, 53–83.
Eisenberg, N., & Mussen, P. H. (1989). The roots of prosocial behavior in children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
French, P. (1992). Responsibility matters. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
Griswold, C. (2007). Forgiveness: A philosophical exploration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hampton, J. (1988). Forgiveness and mercy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hull, R. (2005). All about eve: A report on environmental virtue ethics today. Ethics and the Environment, 10(1), 89–110.
Martin, A. (2008). Tap water’s popularity forces pepsi to cut jobs. New York Times, October 14; Accessed online 8 November 2008.
McFall, L. (1991). What’s wrong with bitterness? In C. Card (Ed.), Feminist ethics (pp. 146–160). Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
Melville, H. (2008). Moby Dick. In T. Tanner (Ed.), Loomings (Oxford World Classics edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Murphy, J. (2002). Forgiveness in counseling: A philosophical perspective. In S. Lamb & J. Murphy (Eds.), Before forgiving: Cautionary views of forgiveness in psychotherapy (pp. 41–53). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Snyder, C. R. (Ed.). (2001). Coping with stress: Effective people and processes. New York: Oxford University Press.
Strawson, P. (1993). Freedom and resentment. In J. M. Fischer & M. Ravizza (Eds.), Perspectives on moral responsibility (pp. 45–66). Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Strelan, P., & Covic, T. (2006). A review of forgiveness process models and a coping framework to guide future research. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 25(10), 1059–1085.
Tessman, L. (2009). Expecting Bad Luck. Hypatia, 24(1), 9–28.
United Nations Human Development Report. (2007/2008). New York: United Nations Development Programme. First Published in 2007 by Palgrave Macmillan.
Walker, M. U. (2006). Moral repair: Reconstructing moral relations after wrongdoing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2006). Forgiveness and reconciliation: Theory and application. New York: Routledge.
Ysseldyk, R., & Matheson, K. (2008). Forgiveness and coping. In W. Malcolm, N. DeCourville, & K. Belicki (Eds.), Women’s reflections on the complexities of forgiveness (pp. 143–164). New York: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Norlock, K.J. Forgivingness, Pessimism, and Environmental Citizenship. J Agric Environ Ethics 23, 29–42 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-009-9182-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-009-9182-5