Philosophy Study Group
Organizer: Curt Hillstrom
Date: Mar 30, 2020
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Curran’s Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis
We will begin a discussion of the book, The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (revised second edition, 1998) by Simon Wiesenthal. This book consists of a story of a German soldier asking forgiveness from the author – a Jew – for an atrocity the soldier had committed. At the time of the request, Wiesenthal was an inmate in a World War II concentration camp.
After relating the story, Wiesenthal then presents analyses by several dozen people – clerics, authors, politicians, journalists, and others – whom he had asked to comment. Should this soldier be forgiven, and why or why not? When this book first came out in the 70’s it became popular among some groups to provoke discussions. It has lost none of its power since then. It is available in paperback for around $12-15, and as an ebook for about $10. (Note that later editions and revisions of the book added more commentators. If you happen to have or get an earlier edition, it will not have as many. While this does not, of course, mean that you should not use it, it is just something to be aware of.) For the 30th we will read the first fifteen chapters. Personally, I think that our group should well positioned to be able to provide a robust analysis of this book, if you’ll forgive me for saying so.