Written by Arda Kizilkaya
A case of moral luck occurs whenever luck differentiates moral judgments. The moral luck phenomenon arises from the conflict between the widely held intuition that cases of moral luck should not happen and that it is arguably impossible to prevent such cases from arising.
This idea that morality is immune against luck finds its inspiration in Kant:
"Goodwill is good not because of what it affects or accomplishes, or its fitness to attain some proposed end, but because of its volition, so it is spontaneous beneficence. Even if, by special disfavor of fortune or niggardly provision of a step-motherly nature, this will should wholly lack the capacity to carry out its purpose—if with its greatest efforts, it should yet achieve nothing and only the goodwill was left, then, like a jewel, it would still shine by itself, as something that has its full worth in itself. Usefulness or unfruitfulness can neither add anything to this worth nor take anything away from it."
The Different Types of Cases
According to Nagel, there are 4 types of luck:
Resultant Luck
This case refers to situations where individuals receive different moral judgments based on the outcomes of their actions, even if their intentions or actions were similar. For example, if two people attempt to murder but only one succeeds, the successful one is judged more harshly. In another case, two drivers do not care enough to check their brakes; if one accidentally injures a child due to brake failure, they are judged more severely than the driver who does not cause harm. Similarly, the painter Gauguin might be judged differently depending on whether his decision to pursue art leads to success or failure. This case highlights how outcomes beyond one's control can influence moral evaluations.
Circumstantial luck
Circumstantial luck is luck in the circumstances in which a person finds himself. For instance, consider Nazi associates in 1930s Germany condemned for committing morally atrocious acts, even if their very presence in Nazi Germany was due to factors beyond their control. Had those people been transferred by the companies for which they worked to Argentina in 1929, perhaps they would have led ideal lives. If we correctly morally judge the Nazi collaborators differently from their imaginary counterparts in Argentina, then we have a case of circumstantial luck.
Constitutive Luck
Constitutive luck is luck in who one is, or in the traits and mentality that one has. Since our genes, caregivers, peers, and other environmental influences all contribute to making us who we are and since we don't have control over these things it seems that who we are is at least largely luck-based. Since how we act is partly a function of who we are, the existence of constitutive luck entails that what actions we perform depends on luck as well. For instance, if we correctly blame someone for being cowardly self-righteous, or selfish, when his being so depends on factors beyond his control, then we have a case of constitutive moral luck. Further, if a person acts on one of these very character traits over which he lacks control by, like, running away instead of helping to save his child, and we correctly blame him for so acting, this is a case of constitutive moral luck.
Causal Luck
It can be defined as luck in “how one is determined by antecedent circumstances”. Nagel points out that the aspects of causal luck are essentially the classic problem of free will. The phenomenon of free will to which Nagel refers arises because it seems that our actions, and even the stripped-down acts of the will, are the consequences of what is not in our control. If this is so, then neither our actions nor our willingness are free. And since freedom is often considered to be necessary for moral responsibility, we cannot be morally responsible even for our willingness. Sometimes the problem is considered to emerge only if determinism is true. However, this is not the case. Even if it turns out that determinism is false, events are still led by prior events based on probabilistic laws; the way that one is caused to act by antecedent circumstances would seem equally outside of one’s control.
References:
How did decolonization reshape the world? (n.d.). CFR Education from the Council on https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil1100/Nagel1.pdf
Foreign Relations. https://education.cfr.org/learn/reading/how-did-decolonization-reshape-world
Moral luck (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy). (n.d.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-luck/
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