Political Reconciliation and Political Health

Those of us who work in the ever-growing field of political reconciliation (whether in theory or in practice) should consider ourselves lucky that Colleen Murphy has written the book that she did. Not only is A Moral Theory of Political Reconciliation a pleasure to read, rich in rigorous philosophical discussion of key questions and illustrated with concrete, politically relevant, examples of the principles involved, but it also sets an important standard for future normative and conceptual discussions of reconciliation, a virtue discussed in more detail below. Additionally, Murphy’s volume balances conceptual complexity with genuine clarity, leading the reader carefully and accessibly through the murky waters of broken political societies without oversimplifying or overgeneralizing the issues at stake. For this reason, A Moral Theory of Political Reconciliationis also a valuable classroom resource—something I know from my experience teaching it in a graduate seminar this year. In my...