Margaret Urban Walker's 'Moral Repair' is an excellent philosophical analysis of the moral, ethical and emotional issues underlying the experience of human pain, healing and forgiveness. The 'pain' in question here is both physical (e.g., torture) and emotional (e.g., the pain of belonging to a despised minority, etc.). Walker's study runs the gamut from examining pain at the mundane level of reacting to everyday types of issues - insults, rude or unthoughtful treatment, etc. - to the worst sorts of pain imaginable (e.g., losing a family member to political torture, murder etc.)
The major focus of the book is the 'repair' of moral relationships following physical and emotional assaults both large and small, at the personal or group level. For instance, the author closely examines the history and effectiveness of South Africa's 'Truth and Reconciliation' Commission and other related approaches that attempt to achieve reconciliation following very grievous and long-lasting atrocities.
This book is not only very good (and very interesting) philosophical analysis, it's also good psychology. And it is a very accessible read - it should be readily understandable by non-specialists (such as myself).
