Mercy
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[[Image:Pierre Montallier 001.jpg|thumb|[[Pierre Montallier]]: The Works of Mercy, c. 1680]]
'''Mercy''' ([[Middle English]], from [[Anglo-French]] ''merci'', from [[Medieval Latin]] ''merced-'', ''merces'', from [[Latin]], "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merx'' "merchandise") can refer both to compassionate behaviour on the part of those in power (e.g. mercy shown by a judge toward a convict) or on the part of a humanitarian third party (e.g. a mission of mercy aiming to treat war victims).
Mercy is a term used to describe the leniency or [[compassion]] shown by one person to another, or a request from one person to another to be shown such leniency or unwarranted compassion for a crime or wrongdoing.
One of the basic virtues of [[chivalry]], [[Christian]] [[ethics]] and [[Islam]], it is also related to concepts of [[justice]] and [[morality]] in behaviour between people. In India, compassion is known as [[karuna]].
In a legal sense, a defendant having been found guilty of a [[Death penalty|capital crime]] may ask for [[clemency]] from being [[Execution (legal)|executed]].
To be "mercy", the behavior generally can not be compelled by outside forces. (A famous literary example is from [[The Merchant of Venice]] when Portia asks Shylock to show mercy. He asks, ''On what compulsion, must I?'' She responds ''The quality of mercy is not strained''.)
A number of organizations (e.g. the [[Mercy Corps]], the [[Sisters of Mercy]], [[Mercyful Fate]] and the [[Temple of Mercy and Charity]]) use the word "mercy" in their name to describe their work.
== References ==
* Ralf van Bühren: ''Die Werke der Barmherzigkeit in der Kunst des 12.–18. Jahrhunderts. Zum Wandel eines Bildmotivs vor dem Hintergrund neuzeitlicher Rhetorikrezeption'' (Studien zur Kunstgeschichte, vol. 115), Hildesheim / Zürich / New York: Verlag Georg Olms 1998. ISBN 3-487-10319-2
*Sterling Harwood, "Is Mercy Inherently Unjust?," in Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000, formerly Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1996), pp. 464-470.
*Jeffrie G. Murphy, "Mercy and Legal Justice," in Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000, formerly Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1996), pp. 454-463.
*Lampert, K.(2005); Traditions of Compassion: From Religious Duty to Social Activism. Palgrave-Macmillan
*Witt, David (2008); "Mercy"
[[Category:Christian theology]]
[[Category:Ethical principles]]
[[Category:Virtues]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Punishment]]
[[Category:Positive psychology]]
[[cs:Milosrdenství]]
[[de:Barmherzigkeit]]
[[es:Misericordia]]
[[eo:Mizerikordo]]
[[fr:Clémence]]
[[he:רחמים]]
[[nl:Barmhartigheid]]
[[pl:Miłosierdzie]]
[[sk:Milosrdenstvo]]
[[sv:Barmhärtighet]]
[[uk:Милосердя]]