Abstract
While the need both to forgive and be forgiven is basic to the flow of human interaction, the concept of forgiveness continues to receive little attention in psychoanalytic theory and practice. In this paper, I address the reasons for this discrepancy, which include forgiveness’s ambiguity and conceptual murkiness, its problematic religious affiliations, and its status within traditional psychoanalytic theory as a “phantom” concept. I unpack and critique this traditional psychoanalytic understanding of forgiveness, arguing that it views forgiveness exclusively as a function of the individual mind while ignoring the relational nature of the concept. I suggest that when we broaden the theoretical ground for thinking about forgiveness to include not only intrapsychic but also intersubjective considerations of it, the concept of forgiveness takes on greater conceptual integrity and utility as a psychoanalytic construct. Seen in this light, the dynamic action that creates forgiveness occurs not only within minds but between them.
Published Version
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