On suffering and forgiveness : an exploration of the conditional and unconditional unfolding of forgiveness

Abstract

This paper will explore the subject of suffering and forgiveness within interpersonal dynamics, where suffering will be seen as one way of making evident the compositional structure of a relationship, and where forgiveness will be seen as a response in the face of suffering, as either a possibility or an imperative. We examine such relationships conceived in terms of an amalgamation of parts: two separate individuals that have come together in a multiplicit interplay of individuality, where the possibility of a recognition of difference is retained. Suffering, which is the onset of difference and separateness, is met by its sufferers with forgiveness in an attempt to eradicate it. What is questioned in this paper is whether it is conditional or unconditional forgiveness which would best allow for the proper reconstitution of wholeness. It is concluded that it is the unconditional which may allow for this reconstitution, since conditions perpetuate divisions, rather than re-establish wholeness.