ABSTRACT
The idea of self-forgiveness seems to many people to be a deeply problematic notion, at least falling considerably short of the paradigm of forgiveness when it concerns forgiveness of others. In this chapter I want to give an account of self-forgiveness which will not have these implications. Self-forgiveness is, I will argue, a perfectly coherent and psychologically sound notion. It is something that we are all likely to need from time to time in leading a life which is less than perfect, during the course of which, for reasons perhaps not fully in our control, we can do serious harm to others.
