Remorse: The Origins of a Moral Idea

Conférence de David Konstan, résident de l'IEA de Paris

Résumé

It is commonly supposed that the interrelated notions of guilt, remorse, penitence, and forgiveness are specific to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Did the Greeks and Romans in the pre-Christian era have a concept of remorse? If not, when and how did it arise? The problem is complicated because there was no change in terminology; rather, old terms were invested with new meanings. In this talk, I argue that Christianity did indeed introduce new nuances in the classical terms, but that remorse as we know is not in fact Biblical but was a product of subsequent interpretation by the Church Fathers.

Plus d'informations (site de la Faculté des Arts de l'Université de Prague)