Victor kumar michigan introduces the problem of moral luck and surveys potential solutions. Even though moral luck seems to be an oxymoron, everyday judgments suggest that there is a phenomenon of moral luck after all. Acts of negligence which do not lead to bad results do not appear to be mo. We see how the problem arises out of a clash between intuitive reactions to cases and an abstract principle of moral responsibility. See especially nussbaums the fragility of good ness and the articles by bernard williams and thomas nagel, both entitled moral luck, originally published together but now recast and appearing respectively in moral luck cambridge university press, 1981 and mortal questions cambridge university press, 1979. In this paper i defend a solution to the moral luck problem based on what i call a fair opportunity account of control. Now suppose as i am sure has happened to you many times that a homeless person asks for change or a dollar as you walk by them on the street. How to dissolve nagels paradox about moral luck and.
As nagel defines it, where a significant aspect of what someone does depends on factors beyond his control, yet we continue to treat him in that respect as an object of moral judgment, it can be called moral. In the theory of knowledge, there are various natural occurrences emerging just like the moral luck in peoples behaviour hence making them hard and challenging to understand nagel 6. The fourth, and last, example of moral luck is luck in determination by antecedent circumstances. Moral luck thomas nagel kant believed that good or bad luck should influence neither our moral judgment of a person and his actions, nor his moral assessment of himself. In mortal questions nagel tackles many great philosophical issues, and he does it in a very concise and readable style. Moral responsibility and moral luck philosophy in action. Includes bibliographical references and index death. Can two people who make the same bad decision bear different levels of moral responsibility.
Strawson, nagel, and realism by alethea nicole brunson a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of masters of arts in philosophy washington state university. Moral luck occurs when factors beyond an agents control positively affect how much praise or blame she deserves. Nagel claims that moral luck is a fundamental problem about moral responsibility to which we possess no satisfactory solution, because. Kant believes that moral luck is the good will and to do our duty by the reasons for our actions. Williams there has been a strain of philosophical thought which has identified the end of life as happiness, happiness as reflective tranquillity, and tranquillity as the product of selfsufficiencyfor what is not in the domain of the self is not in its control. Bernard williams and thomas nagel begin their discussions. Sergi rosell1 university of valencia, spain preprinted in proceedings of the 4th latin meeting in analytic philosophy, genoa 2022 september 2007. Luck determination by antecedent conditions this version of the problem of moral luck is familiar from our discussion of free will. Constitutive moral luck and strawsons argument for the impossibility of moral responsibility. So his free will is to have agreement between 1st order desires and 2nd order volitions. Immanuel kant dealt with the problem of moral luck, but he said that luck has no bearing on the morality of a persons action, whether it turns out well. Thomas nagel addresses this issue in his essay, moral luck. Nagel points out that we typically do not have control over the decisions with which we are faced.
Nagel says that perhaps the agent will regret his causal responsibility. Thomas nagels moral luck assignment example topics and. This collection of essays from the eminent american philosopher thomas nagel is at times enthralling and profound, at. Nagel suggests that if the claim that moral blameworthiness does not depend. Questions about our attitudes to death, sexual behaviour, social inequality, war and political power are shown to lead to more obviously philosophical problems about personal identity, consciousness, freedom and value. Nagel, williams, and moral luck by judith andre bernard williams and thomas nagel begin their discussions of moral luck by contrasting morality with luck. In this paper, thomas nagels argument that luck has a moral significance will be examined. Resultant moral luck while my brother and i were growing up, our father would tell us stories from his time as a police officer. The problem of moral luck had been discussed before nagels and williams articles, although not under the heading of moral luck. Morality at least as kant articulates it is the sphere of life in which, no matter what our circumstances, each of us can become worthy.
The literature on moral luck began in earnest in the wake of papers by thomas nagel and bernard williams. Two people ought not to be morally assessed differently if the only other differences between them are due to factors beyond their control. However, this regret has not been shown to be moral. As a current student on this bumpy collegiate pathway, i stumbled upon course hero, where i can find study resources for nearly all my courses, get online help from tutors 247, and even share my old projects, papers, and lecture notes with other students. Nagel claims that the problem of moral luck is closely connected to the. According to nagel, the problem of moral luck arises because. Hartman 2018 journal of the american philosophical association 4 2. The problem of moral luck had been discussed before nagel s and williams articles, although not under the heading of moral luck. People cannot be morally assessed for what is due to factors beyond their control. The problem arises because the influence of things not under our control causes our responsible selves to vanish, making those acts that are ordinarily the objects of moral judgment mere events. His main areas of philosophical interest are legal. One of those stories was about a teenager who fell asleep at the wheel, crossed over the center line, and hit an oncoming.
Moral luck by thomas nagel 1979 kant believed that good or bad luck should influence neither our moral judgment of a person and his actions, nor his moral assessment of himself. But aristotle might have claimed that what kind of praxis some. Moral luck and the function of results in punishment. The problem of moral luck nagel s case for pervasive moral luck begins with a brief survey of the ordinary. Nagels third example is luck in ones circumstances. Questions about our attitudes to death, sexual behaviour, social inequality, war and political power are shown to lead to more obviously philosophical problems about personal identity, consciousness, freedom, and value. He is a university professor of philosophy and law, emeritus, at new york university, where he taught from 1980 to 2016.
Thomas nagels mortal questions explores some fundamental issues concerning the meaning, nature and value of human life. For an argument that aristotles position in the nicomachean ethics allows less room for moral luck than writers such as williams have claimed, see farwell 1994. The philosophical question nagel asks is whether or not luck has a moral bearing on our actions. Kant believes that moral luck is the good will and to do our duty by the reasons for our. Just because a persons feelings are vulnerable to luck, this does not entail that morality itself is vulnerable to luck. Moral luck by thomas nagel essay in the article moral luck, thomas nagel is defending his definition of moral luck and opposing kants view of moral luck. Today, we try to address this question with the concept of moral luck. Moral luck by thomas nagel in the article moral luck, thomas nagel is defending his definition of moral luck and opposing kants view of moral luck. A persons moral standing should not be affected by luck or chance, and the fact that luck plays such an essential role in determining whether a person is good or bad, morally, in the eyes of his peers is an inaccurate judgment. A truck driver, bill, is driving down his road on a rainy night. Digitizing sponsor internet archive contributor internet archive language english. Nagel doesnt think there is a solution to the problem moral luck poses for moral responsibility and moral judgment.
Our beliefs, therefore, become the basis upon which these factors emerging from an individuals behaviour can be understood. The good will is not good because of what it effects or accomplishes or because of its adequacy to achieve some proposed end. This term, introduced by bernard williams, has been developed, along with its significance to a coherent moral theory, by williams and thomas nagel in their. Though nagels paper was written as a commentary on williams, they have quite different emphases. Consider what was discussed previously regarding both utilitarian perspectives for moral action and kants categorical imperative.
A kantian view of moral luck philosophy cambridge core. Mortal questions by nagel, thomas, 1937publication date. Though nagel s paper was written as a commentary on williams, they have quite different emphases. On smiths route home, a little girl happens to be playing in the street, and he hits her. I have chosen to do so in considerable detail because that enabled me to develop my account of moral responsibility clearly enough to test it against the core cases of moral luck.
988 811 112 1269 1456 443 966 1461 279 526 232 1162 905 959 502 414 1351 344 1408 547 1167 1288 1445 995 394 859 568 465 1246 1009 491 477 58 158 846