Ph.D. Defence by Thomas Brudholm, M.A.

Thomas Brudholm defends his Ph.D. thesis Resentment’s Virtue – a philosophical study of resentment and other emotions that collide with calls for forgiveness and reconciliation after mass atrocity.

Resentment's virtue is a philosophical study of resentment and other reactive attitudes that collide with calls for forgiveness, closure and reconciliation after mass atrocity. The motivation behind the study is a wish to complement the scores of writings in which resentment and refusals to forgive or reconcile are primarily seen as the negative - the irrational, immoral or pathological - to be overcome. The thesis is that the preservation of resentment or the resistance to calls for forgiveness may reflect a moral protest and ambition that might be as permissible, humane or honorable as the willingness to forgive.

Proceeding from victims' experiences, truth commissioners' reflections and the range of studies focusing on responses to mass atrocity, the dissertation seeks to enrich the philosophical understanding of resentment. Challenging prevailing perceptions of the moral standing of resentment and unforgiving victims, the study seeks to introduce a neglected perspective in current thinking about transitional justice and reconciliation.

Assessment committee

Professor Natan Sznaider, Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, Israel
Professor Ruti G. Teitel, New York Law School, USA
Professor Arne Grøn, Københavns Universitet (formand).

The thesis can be viewed at the Office of the PhD Board of Studies (DPU, E355) or at the library of the Danish Center for International Studies and Human Rights

Time and place
The Ph.D. defence takes place at The Danish University of Education (DPU) on May 4, 2005 at 13.00 room D174.

For more information see DPU's webpage: www.dpu.dk/site.asp?p=6609&arrid=2061&lang=da

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