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Skirmishes On The Temporal Boundaries Of States, Meir Dan-Cohen

Law and Contemporary Problems

Dan-Cohen shares his views on group conflicts and how wrongdoers--individuals and groups--get past their wrongdoing. He points out that on the individual level the wrongdoer uses apology and remorse to try to redefine herself as a person in such a way that others no longer continue to hold her responsible for her prior bad conduct. In the process of forgiveness, the wrongdoer's personal identity is redefined in such a way that the reactive attitudes of the victim terminate. He asserts that a similar redefinition occurs when the wrongdoing is committed by a nation. He describes this process as one in …