Abstract

Building on the limitations-owning view of intellectual humility, this essay argues that performing acts of humility in carrying out practices of transitional justice requires the owning of grave wrongs and limitations. It contends that acknowledgements and apologies can pay lip service to grave wrongs and limitations without owning them, and without performing acts of humility. The opening section explains the limitations-owning analysis of humility. Section 2 argues that one can perform illocutionary acts of acknowledging and apologizing for grave wrongs and limitations without owning them. Section 3 contends that even those whose acknowledgements and apologies succeed in owning grave wrongs, and who thereby succeed in performing acts of humility, might still fall short of performing acts of virtuous humility, and of appropriately recognizing the agency of survivors. The closing section raises the worry that in contexts of grave wrongs and limitations, rival incentives — (i) to apologize to others and (ii) to be in denial about the grave wrongs one has committed — may increase the likelihood of lip service without owning. If recognizing the agency of survivors requires the virtuous owning of grave wrongs and limitations, and if contexts of grave wrongs incentivize lip service that does not own, then we have a serious problem.