Philosophy of Criminality and Forgiveness Syllabus

Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry

Welcome to the Philosophy of Criminality and Forgiveness, a course for the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry. As the title suggests, this course is broken into two chapters: one on criminality and the dubious notion of the born criminal; the other about forgiving and being forgiven. These materials are meant to complement each other in two ways. First, the two chapters create a path from discussing human error in the history of criminology to the way that we think about human error generally, maleficent or otherwise. Second, these chapters are meant to provide tools of perception to put into perspective the experience of moving through the criminal legal system and into a carceral experience. The purpose of this course is to provide the audience with new and unique ways to see the world, and themselves in it, upon reentry.

This course is divided into seven modules. The first three modules will address the content of the first chapter, focusing on philosophy. The last four modules will address the content of the second chapter, focusing on forgiveness.