Abstract
Forgiveness is an important theme in end-of-life care in all spiritual and religious traditions, although it is framed differently. Looking at research on forgiveness in palliative care literature from the last two decades, it is clear that forgiveness is predominantly carried out from a psychological perspective. According to this approach, forgiveness is seen as something that can be managed and taught in order to reduce stress and promote health. There is no doubt that this approach has its merits and is useful for dealing with guilt from the individual perspective of one’s own psychological health. From a moral perspective, however, forgiveness is more than dealing with personal feelings of guilt. In order to show the differences and gaps between the psychological and moral perspectives on forgiveness, I discuss the work of the German philosopher Svenja Flaßpöhler. I show that, from a moral perspective, forgiveness can neither be managed or taught, nor seen as a form of understanding, loving, or forgetting. As a conclusion, I formulate some recommendations for future research on forgiveness, distinguishing between the psychological and moral perspectives on forgiveness.
Highlights
Defining the ProblemForgiveness, reconciliation, and the end of life are intrinsically connected
I opened this paper with the observation that forgiveness is an important theme in end-of-life care in all spiritual and religious traditions, albeit framed differently
Looking at recent research on forgiveness in palliative care literature, we discovered that this is predominantly carried out from a psychological perspective
Summary
Forgiveness, reconciliation, and the end of life are intrinsically connected. At the close of life, many people (in many different ways) look back upon their lives. In their overview of the spiritual importance of end-of-life care among five major faiths of the United Kingdom, Choudry et al (2018) give an overview of the most important characteristics of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism Showing how these religions provide guidance on how to live purposefully (and how life is seen as a place of moral and spiritual development), it is clear that the close of life is related to such themes as forgiveness and reconciliation. Religions 2020, 11, 440 palliative care), the theme is less present and researched than one might expect Analyzing these studies, one cannot but conclude that, in the way the subject is discussed, more attention is paid to the psychological dimension of these phenomena than the spiritual and/or religious dimension. I will end with some concluding remarks and questions for further research
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