Generosity of Spirit and Moral Criticism: How the "One Who Loves" Overcomes Self-Righteousness
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
Works of Love is a rich, counter-cultural text, offering much insight into how such qualities as forgiveness, hope, humility, patience, and trust can be understood in the context of love. This chapter focuses on the deliberation “Love Hides a Multitude of Sins,” exploring the figure labelled the “one who loves” [den Kjerlige]. Drawing on this deliberation and some arguments from my book Love’s Forgiveness, I sketch the contours of an under-explored virtue: generosity of spirit. I then ask: If we took seriously Kierkegaard’s portrait of den Kjerlige, what implications would this have for contemporary moral discourse? How would such a person engage in moral criticism or social critique? What might this suggest about the controversial category of “microaggressions?” Through a consideration of “Love Hides,” some recent work on the ethics of social punishment, especially online public shaming, and contemporary debates about microaggressions, this exercise in “applied Kierkegaard” will argue that Kierkegaard’s deliberation offers some prescient insights; an important counterweight to hyper-suspicion; and resources to combat some risks of self-righteousness manifest in a polarized world
Recommended Citation
Lippitt, John, "Generosity of Spirit and Moral Criticism: How the "One Who Loves" Overcomes Self-Righteousness" (2026). IES Book Chapters. 1.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009416504.011
