Restorative Justice Philosophy through a Value-based Methodology

The purpose of this introductory chapter is threefold. First, it aims to transport our readers’ minds to the monasteries, beaches, myths and legends that the authors encountered during their personal journeys of writing their chapters. For a philosophical book, this transportation is important not only for understanding its methodological underpinnings, but also for enabling the grasping of some of the key concepts and norms that it aspires to challenge. Second, this chapter aims to lay the founding values and principles on which the book and the journey were based. These values were agreed with all authors from the outset of our journey, and consequently served as a framework for our philosophical and creative writing. They are also married to the two disciplines that we aim to challenge through our questioning; the strands of restorative justice and human rights. Third, it is paramount that we set the parameters of our work and acknowledge the caveats that any time-bound project with limited resources is expected to face. The overall ambition of the chapter is to open up the debate on new methods of writing on restorative justice. Creative and philosophical thinking that takes bold steps in moving outside of empirical evidence from the bottom up is still rare.