Apologies feel more appropriate than money for repairing irreplaceable historical harms

Evidence

Although speculative, offering an apology after perspective-taking may have been considered more appropriate to repair the harm of the disadvantaged group than offering financial compensation. First, the harm to the disadvantaged groups may have been perceived as difficult to compensate for financially. In such cases, it seems difficult to translate the suffering of the disadvantaged group into an amount of money. Second, and related to this, offering financial compensation may have been perceived as ‘buying off’ the disadvantaged group’s harm, without properly expressing one’s regret about the causal role of one’s group in their suffering. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1105

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to ch9 note that apologies don’t create legal liability, and to why apology is a distinct reparative currency. — connects to: Monetary compensation without apology fails victims seeking recognition — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 2089; Group apologies create shared ground for discussing negative history — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1111; Perceived feasibility explains which historical harms are actually repaired — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 2129 (+1 more)
• ADDENDUM: Relates to the ‘On Sacrifice’ essay theme of symbolic acts carrying moral weight that material compensation cannot bear.

Broader Connections

• Perceived feasibility explains which historical harms are actually repaired #qualifies (0.75) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 2129