This book focuses on the degree to which certain moral and legal doctrines are rooted in specific passions that are then institutionalised in the form of criminal law. A philosophical analysis is developed of the following questions: when, if ever, should hatred be overcome by sympathy or compassion? What are forgiveness and mercy and to what degree do they require - both conceptually and morally - the overcoming of certain passions and the motivation by other passions? If forgiveness and mercy indeed are moral virtues, what role, if any, should they play in the law?

‘Their analyses of these crucial emotions are clear, elegant and sufficiently controversial to initiate an exciting and much needed discussion of the proper role and the nature of the personal passions in social practice and theories.’

Robert C. Solomon - University of Texas, Austin