Sorry If! On Conditional Apologies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Published In

Ethical Theory And Moral Practice

Abstract

Usually, apologies are made by using non-conditional utterances: “I apologize for ruining your evening!” Very little, if any, attention has been given so far to conditional apologies which typically use utterances such as “If I have ruined your evening, I apologize!” This paper argues that such conditional utterances can constitute genuine apologies and play important moral roles in situations of uncertainty. It also proposes a closer analysis of such conditional apologies (rejecting some alternative accounts) and contrasts them with unconditional apologies.

Keywords

Apologies, Conditional apologies, Speech acts, Commitment

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