The Slate does not need Wiping: A Critique of Allais’ Model of Forgiveness

Abstract

In her 2008 paper “Wiping the Slate Clean: The Heart of Forgiveness,” Lucy Allais attempts to articulate a coherent secular notion of forgiveness that captures the metaphor of “wiping the slate clean” without altering judgements about the wrongness of an offense or the perpetrator’s culpability. Allais argues that forgiveness centrally involves ceasing to hold personal retributive reactive attitudes toward the wrongdoer. This paper critiques Allais’ account, arguing that her definition is overly rigid and fails to capture the flexibility inherent in forgiveness. I challenge the tendency to treat affective neutrality as an aspirational endpoint of forgiveness. Forgiveness can range from simply overcoming retributive emotions like resentment to more profound shifts in relational dynamics, but it does not require wiping away the affective impact of the wrong on how the victim sees the perpetrator. Harms inevitably alter relationships, and healing occurs not through forgiveness alone but through ongoing positive actions and the victim’s willingness to engage in repair. Forgiveness remains elective, decided solely by the victim, and is never morally obligatory.