Thomas Nagel: Moral Luck

question 19

Essay

Thomas Nagel: Moral Luck
Intuitively, people should not be condemned for things that are due to factors beyond their control. Nagel argues, however, that there seem to be many instances of moral luck. Cases of moral luck occur when what someone does depends on factors beyond her control, yet we continue to treat her as the proper object of moral assessment. For example, we condemn the drunk driver who hits a pedestrian far more harshly than the one who merely drives off the road, even though the fact of whether a pedestrian is present is beyond the driver's control.
Nagel distinguishes among four different sources of moral luck. Constitutive luck concerns what kind of person one is, in terms of one's inclinations and temperament. Another category of luck - circumstantial luck - encompasses the circumstances one happens to be in, and the kinds of problems one faces. A third kind of luck - causal luck - concerns how one is determined by antecedent circumstances. And a final kind of luck - resultant luck - deals with the consequences of one's actions and projects, like the case of our drunk driver.
When we take all four of these types of luck into account, Nagel argues, "nothing or almost nothing about what a person does seems to be under his control." Yet, we continue morally judging people for their actions. Nagel argues that this paradox arises from our concepts of agency and events. On the one hand, the idea that we are agents is incompatible with the view that we are mere things, and that our actions are mere events. Yet, as we learn more about the causes of our actions and their consequences, we seem forced to accept the view that we are indeed things and our actions are events. Nonetheless, Nagel claims that we can't help but feel moral emotions like pride and guilt about our own actions. Ultimately, Nagel concludes, the problem of moral luck does not admit of a satisfactory solution; it is the irreconcilable clash of the objective and subjective points of view
-What would it mean to deny that there are any genuine cases of moral luck? Is such a position defensible? Why or why not?

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Definitions:

Staff Meeting

A gathering of employees led by their employer to discuss issues, progress, or objectives related to the workplace.

Stanley Milgram's Experiment

A series of social psychology experiments conducted in the 1960s to test obedience to authority, revealing people's willingness to follow orders even when they cause harm.

Obedience

Compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority.

Situational Factors

External influences that affect an individual's behavior, decisions, or performance in a given context or environment.