The Penitent and the Penitentiary: Questions Regarding Apologies in Criminal Law

In early 2008 I published I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies.1 Discussing numerous apologies from ancient and recent history, I Was Wrong argues that we suffer from considerable confusion about the moral meanings and social functions of these complex interactions. rather than asking whether a speech act “is or is not” an apology, I offer a nuanced theory of apologetic meaning and argue that apologies have evolved from a confluence of diverse cultural and religious practices that do not translate easily into pluralistic secular discourse. In an attempt to provide a compelling theoretical framework for the meanings of apologies that synthesizes relevant knowledge from any discipline that lends insight to the issues, I engage not only philosophers but also sociologists, psychologists, criminologists, linguists, political scientists, feminists of various disciplines, law faculty, anthropologists, theologians, and just about anyone who has written on contrition. I devote much of I Was Wrong to the inexact science of identifying the distinct spheres of apologetic meaning. after describing several varieties of apologies between individuals and collectives, I make the case for a robust core of moral meaning in what I name a “categorical apology.” the book considers the many nuances and gritty details of apologetic meaning, but the following benchmarks guide my standards for categorical apologies: