Cultural Pluralism, Recognition and Forgiveness

Abstract

The experience of pluralism has allowed for a deepening of the dialogue between cultures throughout history. On the one hand, intercultural dialogue is an opportunity to reflect on this experience. On the other, it confronts the problems of intercultural relations. In the face of these problems, two elements that play a fundamental role are recognition and forgiveness. Fricker (2019) distinguishes between two conceptions of forgiveness: Moral Justice Forgiveness and Gifted Forgiveness. The first involves a moral requirement, while the second does not. However, the idea that forgiveness has something of a gift is rightful for unconditional forms of forgiveness, where forgiveness is given even in the absence of an apology, but, in conditional cases, on the other hand, we seem to have an obligation to forgive. We will analyse the role of forgiveness in the light of the notion of recognition within the framework of pluralism as a research horizon.