The Art of the Apology

Laura Knoy's picture
By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, April 9, 2008.
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The news has been filled with apologies: former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer on his involvement with a prostitute, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for statements made by supporters, and, amidst this week’s 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, John McCain’s mea culpa for originally opposing a national holiday for the civil rights leader. We talk with the author of a new book exploring the complexity, diversity and execution of the simple apology.

Guest

  • Nick Smith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Hampshire and author of I Was Wrong: The Meanings of Apologies

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Apologies
Submitted by philipmarcus on Wed, 04/09/2008 - 10:04.

I watched a movie last night called "4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days", a Romanian film about abortion. It was quite dark and disturbing, but a great film. There was one scene when a couple was having a converstation. She was very upset with things happening in her life. The conversation was difficult. At one point, the boyfriend looked at her and said, "I'm sorry". She looked at him and asked "for what?". He clearly did not know what to say. I thought it was a very powerful scene and statement about apologies.
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