Introduction
In ordinary language, reconciliation has at least four interrelated meanings. First, reconciliation in the sense of pacification means that individuals or groups find back to peaceful coexistence after a time of disagreement. Second, reconciliation in the sense of rapprochement points to a process that builds, strengthens, or fixes cooperative relationships. Reconciliation in the sense of concord means, third, that apparently opposite views prove, on closer consideration, consistent with each other. And fourth, according to its theological etymology, reconciliation promises salvation through atonement. This theological overtone subsists in the psychoanalytical meaning of healing, of becoming reunified with a larger whole (the community, the cosmos, or god). All four of these aspects – pacification, rapprochement, concord, and healing – play a significant role in the theory of political reconciliation.
The current understanding of politicalreconciliation is based on the...
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Hahn, H. (2020). Political Reconciliation. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_167-1
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