Ive tried to define the idea of mercy and its place in history. Mercy it appears has a wide concept for many. My interest lies in the idea that mercy be shown to those who have harmed or tried to harm you or yours. The vanquished enemy, when you stand sword in hand over your disarmed enemy. This concept of mercy has very little or no reference in history or philosophy. I wondered looking at history when it became a recognised idea , this notion of showing mercy to your enemy. I could not find it.

I thought it might be easy to find this concept , may be I'm looking in the wrong places. Maybe others could help.

1 a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment.

Is there something you find wrong with the above definition from Merriam-Webster? It seems right to me.

there is at least one incident that i am aware of in the history of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) at that very moment when he stood with his sword raised and ready to strike an enemy who had fallen in battle, the man spit in his face. Muhammad lowered his sword and did not kill the man, but took him prisoner. the man asked why did he not kill him, and Muhammad said because he would not allow himself to kill anyone in a fit of anger.

i hope you think that qualifies as an act of mercy. i think in relation to that period of history it would be.

but i dont believe that it is a recognized idea in the modern world to show mercy to someone who has wished death upon you or tried to kill you or has actually harmed someone close to you.

to me, mercy means forgiving someone who has harmed you when you are legally, socially, spiritually, in every way allowed the right of retribution, but you choose to forgive instead. there are also records of this in shariah law and muslims will do this and are given this as an option-i believe i read an account of a man whose son had been killed by someone and he chose to forgive the killer, but i am sorry to say i dont know if i could find it for you. but if i saw one, there are most likely others and they can be found.

in fact i seem to recall the case of a christian family in america doing the same thing, maybe you heard about it?

and now that i think of it, there is a group of families who lost members in the fall of the World Trade towers who have banded together to stop the war in iraq.

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"The idea is to die young as late as possible."....Ashley Montagu

Does it? Muhammed's motive was not compassion nor pity. His motive was what you reported. He did not think it right to kill anyone in a fit of anger. So, that does not seem to me an act of mercy. It is the motive that counts. Not the action.

i couldnt say whether or not he felt compassion at the time, but mercy is not an emotion, it is a decision. do you define an act of mercy by its motives?

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"The idea is to die young as late as possible."....Ashley Montagu

Yes, I do. It is an act of forbearance (as the dictionary says) because the person who forbears has compassion, or pities, the possible victim. The decision to forbear is made for a particular kind of motive. Muhammud's motive seemed to be a principle of morality. Not pity or compassion for the person. Mercy seems to be a motive, not an emotion. Although, of course, motives are often attended by emotions.

might it be a principle of morality to show mercy whether you feel compassion or not? not sure i said that right. i mean, suppose one knows it is a better thing to do, to take the high road, showing mercy because ultimately it will lead to peace, but one feels no compassion for the person on whom one is going to award amnesty or any penalty less than the maximum?

there is mercy in law, in jurisprudence also i believe. for instance the pardon by a governor for a man who has been given the death penalty. why would it be necessary for the judge to feel compassion?

now that i think of it, arent there issues where governments exchange prisoners...you might not want to call that mercy because it is a tradeoff, but to me it is still being merciful even if your motives are to obtain mercy for someone else.

why do we always get into these interesting conversations when i am already past my bedtime? then i cant sleep because i keep thinking about the subject of the thread...

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"The idea is to die young as late as possible."....Ashley Montagu

I suppose that a person might have a moral principle to show mercy. But I wonder whether if a person acted on that principle he would be showing mercy. He would be forbearing because he thought he ought to forbear, but not out of pity or compassion. It doesn't seem to me that acting out a a moral principle to show mercy is really showing mercy.

I hope I answered quickly enough for you to get to sleep.

and in time to get these definitions from merriam webster online:

Main Entry: for·bear·ance
Pronunciation: \fȯr-ˈber-ən(t)s, fər-\
Function: noun
Date: 1576
1 : a refraining from the enforcement of something (as a debt, right, or obligation) that is due
2 : the act of forbearing : patience
3 : the quality of being forbearing : leniency



mercy
Main Entry: mer·cy
Pronunciation: \ˈmər-sē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural mercies
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French merci, from Medieval Latin merced-, merces, from Latin, price paid, wages, from merc-, merx merchandise
Date: 13th century
1 a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment <begged for mercy> b : imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder

compassion
Main Entry: com·pas·sion
Pronunciation: \kəm-ˈpa-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French, from Late Latin compassion-, compassio, from compati to sympathize, from Latin com- + pati to bear, suffer —
Date: 14th century
: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it

i think it could happen that a person would feel compassion and pity for someone (like the judge) but not choose to show any mercy in awarding a sentence of the maximum. likewise i think a person could show mercy as a means of moral principle while sincerely wanting to murder the person, in other words without feeling compassion.

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"The idea is to die young as late as possible."....Ashley Montagu

Yes. I agree. I did not say that whenever you feel compassion of pity, you will forbear. Nor, the converse. I said (I think) that unless your motive is that of pity or compassion, your forbearance will not be an act of mercy. When you show mercy, you don't harm because you are motivated by compassion or pity.

Sweet dreams.