PHIL10101 Study Guide - Final Guide: John Stuart Mill, Moral Luck, Kantian Ethics
Document Summary
Common assumption: we can only give moral praise/blame to someone if what they did was in their control. Whether we succeed or fail in what we try to do nearly always depends to some extent on factors beyond our control . Ultimately, nothing or almost nothing about what a person does seems to be under his control 1 ex: adam and ben texting and driving- adam kills someone- same intentions but adam more guilty because of factor out of his control. 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. We judge people as good/bad but most stuff not in our control. Constitutive luck kind of person you are, personality, character can"t control who you are. History shapes us- someone in germany in 1930 might not have committed a certain crime had the nazis not come into power.
