Moral Luck Flashcards
The control principle
People cannot be morally assessed (praised/blamed) for what is not their fault, or due to factors beyond their control
Moral assessment of people
Can morally assess a state of affairs and a person as good/bad
Blaming someone for their actions
Not only saying it is their fault, or it is bad that they happened, but also judging them and saying that they are bad
We can only judge a person as good/bad when…
Their actions are under their control
What does the control principle not allow us to do?
Blame people for things out of their control
What does a hard determinist believe about one’s actions?
All actions are beyond our control and nobody should be assessed as all actions are out of our control
Actions we cannot be blamed for
- Actions which are non-determined but manipulated
- Actions which are non-determined but coerced
- Actions which are non-determined but conditioned
Why may people not be assessed on the consequences of their actions?
The consequences of our actions are usually due to factors beyond our control so it is unfair to assess people for the consequences of their actions
Blaming people for things outside their control =
Incoherent, irrational, unfair
People should not be assessed differently if the only other differences between them are…
Due to factors beyond their control
Cannot differentiate whether some are more/less praiseworthy/blameworthy depending on…
Their social background
Everyone has equal opportunity to be…
Good/bad
When does moral luck occur?
When factors beyond someone’s control positively affect the degree of praise/blame that they deserve
What does Williams claim about morality?
It is not immune to luck
What is meant by luck?
An event which occurs purely by chance/at random and when it is outside of the agents control
