This paper focuses on the meaning of regret for the mistakes of those who have done in the past. In traditional Western philosophy, regret was not the main subject of discussion. Because regret was viewed as a personal feeling of pain and displeasure. Unlike Aristotle and Spinoza, who stand in this tradition, scholars who speak positive meanings of regret are Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Scheler, etc.
In particular, Max Scheler criticizes that they did not understand the structural connection of regret in traditional philosophy. And he explains the moral meaning of regret from a phenomenological point of view. This article uses the movie <Rudderless> as a subject to explain the meaning of regret. Particularly, I pay attention to Sam's regret as a father. Most people think regret is negative. The main reason for this is that regret is related to one's own mistakes in the past, cannot be altered, and is therefore useless. In this paper, the characteristics of regret are described as follows. Regret relates to one's own voluntary actions. Regret is due to value/moral judgment beyond fact judgment. The reason why regret is persistent and painful is that it is associated with empathy for the other's feelings. Also, because regret is a phenomenon within consciousness, it is difficult to forget. The positivity of regret is due to the orientation to alter, which is not a condition of actual fulfillment. Furthermore, regret is not a question about one's past actions, but about one's existence. In these senses, I propose that it is necessary to rethink the value and meaning of regret and how to use it in philosophical counseling, personality education, etc., beyond the negative view of regret.