Handling moral infringement is complicated. This was as true in antiquity as it is today. Should one retaliate, demand compensation, be merciful, ignore the infringement, or forgive? Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto compare how Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians in antiquity navigated different ideas, practices, and rituals for moral repair.
Handling moral infringement is complicated and this was as true in antiquity as it is today. Should one retaliate, demand compensation, be merciful, ignore the infringement, or forgive? Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto compare how Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians in antiquity navigated different ideas, practices, and rituals for moral repair. How did they think about morality and did this affect ideas about moral repair? What practices of moral repair did they use, within and beyond the court? In what different ways did they involve the gods in interpersonal conflicts through ritual? Insights from contemporary research on human behaviour guide the comparative work, since, as the authors argue, human moral behaviour and cognition is the result of both innate and cultural factors.
Survey of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Dynamics of Moral Repair – 1.2 The Present Study's Relation to Previous Research – 1.3 Definitions and Strategies – 1.4 Categories and Spheres for Comparison – 1.5 Specific Tools and Theories – 1.6 Sources and Limitations
Chapter 2: Idea(l)s: Cognitive Frames for Morality and Their Implications for Moral Repair
2.1 Cognitive Frames and Conceptual Metaphors – 2.2 Cognitive Frames in Ancient Moral Discourse – 2.3 WEIGHT versus ACCOUNTING in Jewish Thought – 2.4 PATH: Destiny, Direction, Deviation – 2.5 PURITY: Removal, Restoration, and Conceptual Blending – 2.6 MEASURE and SIZE: Compensation, Forgiveness, and Revenge – 2.7 SIZE and Status Restoration – 2.8 AESTHETICS as Beauty and Proportion – 2.9 FORCE/STRENGTH as Control and Rationality – 2.10 NATURE: Character and Norm – 2.11 HEALTH: Moral Repair as Divine Healing – 2.12 Conclusions
Chapter 3: Practices: Moral Infringements and Moral Repair in Social Groups
3.1 Hierarchies and Emotions – 3.2 Honour and Shame in Cultural Comparison – 3.3 Punishment, Revenge, and Compensation – 3.4 Deterrence, Balance, and Excess – 3.5 Homicide Repair – 3.6 Bodily injury – 3.7 Property Infringement and Restitution – 3.8 Repair of Sexual Infringement
Chapter 4: Rituals and Moral Repair
4.1 Involving Gods through Ritual – 4.2 Divine Origins of Morality and Law – 4.3 The Willingness of Gods to Intervene in Human Moral Repair – 4.4 Cursing One's Opponent – 4.5 Oaths and Vows: Conditional Self-Curses – 4.6 Prayers and Supplications for Justice – 4.7 Dedications as Aggressions – 4.8 Expulsion and Purification Rituals – 4.9 Confessions of Sin, Prayers for Forgiveness, and Intercession for Sinners – 4.10 Fasting and Asceticism – 4.11 Divination of Guilt – 4.12 Invoking Gods and Using Ritual Language for Emotional Effect
Chapter 5: Concluding Discussions
5.1 Revenge and Punishment – 5.2 Removal: Exile, Ransom, Purification – 5.3 Compromise and Compensation – 5.4 Responsibility and Repentance – 5.5 Clemency and Forgiveness – 5.6 Appeals to Virtue in Moral Repair – 5.7 Ritual Innovation in Infringement Repair – 5.8 Final Reflections
