Opening page…
The coin flip
Two drivers leave the same party equally drunk. A child runs into the road in front of one, who kills the child; the other gets home without hurting anyone. Do they deserve different blame?
Two people take the same risk. Only one lives with a terrible outcome.
Your answer
A little context
You have probably done something careless that turned out fine: a glance at the phone at the wrong moment, a pan left on the stove while you answered the door. You were lucky, and you probably know it. This question asks whether luck should decide how much blame a person carries.
Read alongside it1
ReadingMoral luckWhere 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 luck.
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 luck.
Nearby questions
- Does nature matter for its own sake?Picture a forest that vanishes without a single person or animal ever noticing or suffering.
- Is it wrong to eat animals?The animal on your plate could feel pain and fear. If you had to kill it yourself, you would find out what you really think.
- Can a deal be unfair if both sides agree to it?A desperate person accepts poverty wages, or sells a kidney, because every other option is worse. They chose it, and it may still be exploitation.
- Do the ends justify the means?Sometimes the only way to stop something terrible is to do something terrible yourself. Even then, your hands are not quite clean.
- Do we owe anything to people who aren't born yet?The people who will live with our climate, our debts and our ruins cannot vote, bargain or thank anyone.
