Revenge

Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person or group in response to perceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of making things equal, revenge usually has a more injurious than constructive goal. The vengeful wish is to make the perceived wrongdoer go through what they put the victim through or to make sure the wrongdoer can never do what they did again.

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Revenge is a hotly contested ethical issue in philosophy.

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Some feel revenge is necessary to maintain a just society. In some societies, it is believed that the damage inflicted should be greater than the original one, as a punitive measure. The Old Testament philosophy of "an eye for an eye" (cf. Exodus 21:24) tried to limit the allowed damage to avoid a series of violent acts that spiral out of control. Detractors argue revenge is more like the logical fallacy "two wrongs make a right." Some Christians interpret Paul's "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19, King James Version) to mean that only God has the moral right to exact revenge.

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Of the psychological, moral, and cultural foundation for revenge, philosopher Martha Nussbaum has written: "The primitive sense of the just — remarkably constant from several ancient cultures to modern institutions . . . — starts from the notion that a human life . . . is a vulnerable thing, a thing that can be invaded, wounded, violated by another's act in many ways. For this penetration, the only remedy that seems appropriate is a counterinvasion, equally deliberate, equally grave. And to right the balance truly, the retribution must be exactly, strictly proportional to the original encroachment. It differs from the original act only in the sequence of time and in the fact that it is response rather than original act — a fact frequently obscured if there is a long sequence of acts and counteracts" ("Equity and Mercy," in Sex and Social Justice , pp. 157-58).

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Vendettas are sequences of acts and counteracts motivated by revenge and carried out over long stretches of time by groups in a quest for justice; they were an important part of many pre-industrial societies, especially in the Mediterranean region, and still persist in some areas. The Middle Ages would not regard an insult or injury as settled until avenged: the story of Wimund the Bishop illustrates the typical implacability of the time: its hero, though blinded and imprisoned, would avenge himself against his enemies if he had even but the eye of a sparrow.

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In Japan's feudal past the Samurai class upheld the honor of their family, clan, or their lord by katakiuchi (敵討ち), or revenge killings. These killings could also involve the relatives of an offender. Today katakiuchi is mostly pursued by peaceful means, but revenge remains an important part of Japanese culture.

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The goal of some legal systems is limited to "just" revenge.

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However, a system evolved that substituted the damage of revenge with reparations like blood money or forcing a rapist to marry his victim. Modern Western legal systems usually state as their goal re-education or re-insertion. Even in these systems, the notion of justice as revenge is held by part of the society. A thwarted psychological expectation of revenge may lead to issues of victimhood.

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Ethical: REDIRECT Ethics...

Philosophy: Philosophy is a discipline or field of study involving the investigation, analysis, and development of ideas at a general, abstract, or fundamental level. It is the discipline in search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means. The term...

Old Testament: The Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures (also called the Hebrew Bible) constitutes the first major part of the Bible according to Christianity. It is usually divided into the categories of law, history, poetry (or wisdom books) and prophecy. All of these books were written before the birth of Jes...

Revenge related Images and Photos (experimental)

She Wants Revenge: She Wants Revenge	She Wants Revenge: She Wants Revenge	She Wants Revenge: She Wants Revenge	She Wants Revenge: She Wants Revenge
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Revenge Leroy Mason (Top) Dolores Del Rio (Bottom) 1928	Sorry Revenge Card Game	Sorry Revenge Card Game	Sorry Revenge Card Game