2025 Anderson Lectures - Forgiveness: Do We Really Need it?

Forgiveness: Do We Really Need it?

Lucy Allais | Johns Hopkins University and the University of Witwatersrand
Luke Russell | University of Sydney

Tuesday, October 28 | 5:30pm doors for a 5:45pm start | Chau Chak Wing Museum

When someone wrongs us, the impact often lingers  —  not just in hurt over what happened, but in the anger and resentment that we feel towards the wrongdoer. A common view is that we should try to let go, forgive, and move on for the sake of our own happiness. But is this really the best way to think about forgiveness?

 After all, in cases of serious wrongdoing, anger and resentment can be justified. They can be ways of standing up for ourselves and insisting on respect. Why, then, should a victim be expected to set aside those feelings?

 In this public conversation, philosopher Luke Russell will speak with Professor Lucy Allais about her influential writings on forgiveness. Together, they will explore whether forgiveness is better understood as a generous gift rather than a self-help strategy, and will try to identify the kind of emotional shift that happens when someone forgives. Along the way, they will weigh the benefits and the possible costs of forgiving, and ask: when is forgiveness worth giving, and when might it be better to withhold?

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Professor Lucy Allais is a philosopher who holds academic positions at both the University of the Witwatersrand and Johns Hopkins University. Her research interests include the philosophy of Immanuel Kant as well as forgiveness, punishment, and bioethics.

Luke Russell is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. His research is focused on moral philosophy, and he has developed secular accounts of evil and of forgiveness

ABOUT THE ANDERSON FELLOWSHIP:
Anderson Fellowships are bestowed through a bequest of the estate of John Anderson (1893-1962), an influential Australian philosopher and Challis Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney from 1927 to 1958. They fund travel to the University of Sydney for up to two distinguished fellows in philosophy each year with the aim of promoting collaboration between members of the philosophy department and leading researchers around the world.

Please join us for some refreshments in Sounds Cafe after the talk.

Images: Christopher Stites, Unsplash