Saying Sorry

Place: Metsätalo, room 10

Time: 14:15–15:45

Abstract: Apologizing when we’re responsible for wrongdoing is an important stage in repairing a damaged relationship. But we also say sorry when we’ve been blamelessly involved in harm to others, most famously in cases of bad moral luck, but also cases of harm that results from justified action or even just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many have recently argued that we can and should take responsibility for what we’ve done in these cases. I reject these arguments, and suggest instead that these quasi- and pseudo-apologies are part of a responsibility ritual, in which both the agent and the victim have certain assigned roles that have to be sincerely performed in order to achieve the desired psychological effect. This piece of theatre serves to mend a relationship that is only threatened by the non-culpable act because of our epistemic limitations and imperfect rationality. Insofar as saying sorry here constitutes taking responsibility, it’s a matter of taking forward-looking responsibility for initiating the repair of the threatened moral or personal relationship.