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Apologizing for Who I Am
Author(s) -
PETTIGROVE GLEN,
COLLINS JORDAN
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.339
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5930
pISSN - 0264-3758
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5930.2011.00519.x
Subject(s) - shame , character (mathematics) , dimension (graph theory) , focus (optics) , epistemology , function (biology) , psychology , moral character , social psychology , character traits , sociology , philosophy , physics , geometry , mathematics , evolutionary biology , pure mathematics , optics , biology
Philosophical discussions of apologies have focused on apologizing for wrong actions. Such a focus overlooks an important dimension of moral failures, namely, failures of character. However, when one attempts to revise the standard account of apology to make room for failures of character, two objections emerge. The first is rooted in the psychology of shame. The second stems from the purported social function of apologies. This paper responds to these objections and, in so doing, sheds further light both on why we apologize (when we are in the wrong) and on why we accept apologies (when others are).