ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with the famous passage not just for the obvious reason that it refers to the showing of remorse and is therefore a fitting introduction to a book dedicated to the subject. It considers how the expectations that the intensity of emotional suffering be roughly commensurate with the harm done influence judicial evaluations of whether or not the offender's show of remorse is genuine. It explores, how public demonstrations of remorse were incorporated into the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in South Africa from 1996-2000. The book analyzes moments of contestation in order to show how the remorse or absence of remorse of a wrongdoer can become a site of conflict between rival moral communities and between the state and the citizenry. Finally, "The Social and Legal Regulation of Remorse" It identify the major themes of the book.
