After a recent explosion on Instagram, it was clearly time to do a deep dive on the controversial topic of forgiveness. Many folks in the survivor community seem to think that you must forgive toxic people in order to heal. In this episode, I bring in the work of Aristotle, Kant, Hume, and a contemporary philosopher named John Kekes to show why forgiveness really is optional. 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/empowermentthroughthought

Resources I used in this show: 

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/forgiveness/
• Kekes, John. “Blame versus Forgiveness.” The Monist 92, no. 4 (2009): 488–506. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27904141.

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