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Review Of Nancy Sherman's 'The Moral Logic Of Survivor Guilt'

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Why to Forgive

A tragic loss is one to never be expected. The thought “What if” travels through the mind of the survivor. But can’t help feel guilty for the victim. What if the survivor had done something different? Would they still be here? Can the survivor’s guilt be forgiven? The narrator in the Seventh man feels this exact way. The Seventh Man knows he did all he could to save his friend and should learn to forgive himself for his failure he feels.
Survivor guilt is a very painful thing to experience. And because it is all just thoughts in the survivors head, it is hard to get rid of. Survivor guilt by definition is a mental condition that occurs when a person perceives themselves to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event …show more content…

In paragraph 41, the narrator tells us how he is left feeling from the event, how it took him a long time to recover from the emotional shock. Causing him not to eat, attend school, and spent is days in bed. If the Seventh Man had forgiven himself sooner he would have not suffered the pain he was going through. Bad Luck plays just as important part. In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” paragraph 9, Nancy Sherman,the writer, talks about what she has found in her research of Survivor guilt. “The classic scenario is not so much one of the good luck (as in survivor guilt) but of bad luck, typically having to do with accidents where again there is little or no culpability for the harms-they bring harm through their agency-but they are not morally responsible for what happened.” What Sherman has pointed fits perfectly with the Seventh’s Man situation. He may have been able to save K. if it wasn’t for his fear that had stopped him and no one can actually know if he would have made it in time to save him, or both lives swept away with the wave. However, like Sherman stated, he is not morally

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“...We often take responsibility in a way that goes beyond what we can reasonably be held responsible for”(Sherman 154), says Nancy Sherman in “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt.” Sherman believes that people blame themselves too much when something goes wrong in a dangerous situation; and even when something happens that is out of their control, they cannot forgive themselves for the outcome of the event. Should people in life-or-death situations be held accountable for their actions? Someone might argue that people should take responsibility for what they do, even in survival mode. However, in life-or-death situations, people should not accuse other, and make them feel remorse for their actions, because, in survival mode, a person wants to save themselves before anyone else.

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In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” by Nancy Sherman, one has done no wrong, but still has guilt, even in situations that are unexpected, as this happens way too much, and that those who have done wrongdoing should be feeling guilty. She states, “We often take responsibility in a way that goes beyond what we can reasonably be held responsible for. And we feel the guilt that comes with that sense of responsibility. Nietzsche is the modern philosopher who well understood this phenomenon: “Das schlechte Gewissen,” (literally, “bad conscience”)-his term for the consciousness of guilt where one has done no wrong, doesn’t grow in the soil where we would most expect it, he argued, such as in prisons where there are actually “guilty” parties who should feel remorse for wrongdoing”(Sherman 154). Illustrating, this proves that we take the responsibility for actions that we did not do, and should not feel any remorse, but that the people who have done wrongdoing, should have this feeling of guilt.

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He shows signs of survivor's guilt along with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Survivor’s guilt (survivor syndrome) is a mental condition that occurs when a person believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not. The experience and manifestation of survivor's guilt will depend on an individual's psychological profile. When the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) was published, survivor’s guilt was removed as a recognized specific diagnosis and redefined as a significant symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. Conrad shows signs of PTSD, as listed in DSM V, like direct exposure to the traumatic event, persistent nightmares and flashbacks of the event, loss of appetite, inability to concentrate in class, disinterest in regular activities, and a feeling of isolation (American Psychiatric Association,

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