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Can wrongs be righted? Or does the impossibility of changing the past mean that we remain permanently guilty? While atonement is usually considered a theological topic, this book uses the resources of secular moral philosophy to explore the possibility of correcting the wrongs we do to one another

Abstract:This essay examines the ethics of boycotting as a social response to injustice or wrongdoing. The boycotts in question are collective actions in which private citizens withdraw from or avoid consumer or cultural interaction with parties perceived to be responsible for some transgression. Whether a particular boycott is justified depends, not only on the reasonableness of the underlying moral critique, but also on what the boycotters are doing in boycotting. The essay considers four possible interpretations of the kind of act in which boycotting consists: the avoidance of complicity, protest speech, social punishment, or social coercion. Each interpretation provides a plausible account of at least some cases of boycotting, yet each raises distinct challenges to justifying boycotting activities.

"This volume makes social punishment the central category of analysis. The philosophical literature on punishment is so wholly concentrated on the state's responses to crime that authors sometimes dismiss talk of punishment in everyday life as merely metaphorical. But this is mistaken. Legal norms are not the only ones that society enforces and the mechanisms of law are not the only methods of enforcement that society uses. This work argues that at least many instances of rebuke, social withdrawal, boycotting, and public shaming should be interpreted as cases of punishment. It argues that the general justifying aim of informal social punishments, such as these, is to morally pressure wrongdoers to make amends. Yet the legitimacy of using social punishment also turns on the tension between individual desert and social good, as well as the possession of an authority to punish"--

Features contributions that respond to deep challenges to social cohesion from racial injusticeIn the latest installment of the NOMOS series, a distinguished group of interdisciplinary scholars explore the erosion—and potential rebuilding—of civic bonds in response to injustice, wrongdoing, and betrayal. Contributors address the possibility of reconciliation and repair, drawing on cutting-edge insights from the fields of political science, philosophy, and law. Nine timely essays explore our pivotal moment in history, from the question of reparations for slavery to the from the art—and impact—of the public apology.The editors of this volume encourage us to not only examine the roots of mistrust, but also to imagine a collective way forward, particularly as we face the continuing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reconciliation and Repair provides thought-provoking perspectives in an age where they are desperately needed