Apologies pervade our news headlines and our private affairs, but how should we evaluate these often vague and deceptive rituals? Discussing numerous examples from ancient and recent history, I Was Wrong: On The Meanings of Apologies 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, Smith offers a nuanced theory of apologetic meaning. Smith leads us with a clear voice though a series of rich philosophical and interdisciplinary questions, arguing that apologies have evolved from a confluence of diverse cultural and religious practices that do not translate easily into pluralistic secular discourse. After describing several varieties of apologies between individuals, Smith turns to collectives. Although apologies from corporations, governments, and other groups can be profoundly significant, Smith guides readers to appreciate the kinds of meaning that collective apologies often do not convey and warns of the dangers of collective acts of contrition that allow individual wrongdoers to obscure their personal blame. Dr. Smith is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of New Hampshire. A graduate of Vassar College, he earned a law degree from SUNY at Buffalo and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. Before coming to UNH, he worked as a litigator for LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene, and MacRae and as a judicial clerk for the Honorable R.L. Nygaard of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He specializes in the philosophy of Law, Politics, and Society and he writes on and teaches aesthetics. He is working with Cambridge University Press on the sequel to I Was Wrong, applying his framework for apologetic meanings to examples in criminal and civil law. His writings have appeared in journals such as Continental Philosophy Review, Social Theory and Practice, The Journal of Social Philosophy, Culture, Theory & Critique, The Rutgers Law Journal, and The Buffalo Law Review.
Author: Nick Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 02/25/2008
Pages: 312
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780521865524
About the Author
Smith, Nick: - Nick Smith is currently a philosophy professor at the University of New Hampshire. He graduated from Vassar College in 1994, earned a law degree from State University of New York, Buffalo in 1997, and went on to complete a PhD in philosophy from Vanderbilt University, Tennessee in 2002. He made a living as an attorney before coming to the University of New Hampshire, working as a litigator for a major corporate law firm based in Manhattan. He also held positions as a judicial clerk for the Honorable R. L. Nygaard of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in-house counsel for a New England medical technology corporation, a clerk for a New York State Department of Human Rights judge, and an intern at two public defenders' offices. He specialises in the philosophy of law, politics, and society, particularly as considered through contemporary continental philosophy. He also writes on and teaches aesthetics. He is currently working on the sequel to The Categorical Apology. This next book, also with Cambridge University Press, applies his framework for the various kinds of meanings conveyed by apologies to examples in criminal and civil law. His writings have appeared in journals such as Continental Philosophy Review, Social Theory and Practice, The Journal of Social Philosophy, Culture, Theory and Critique, The Rutgers Law Journal, and The Buffalo Law Review.
