Moral Luck
Moral luck is a term used by Nagel to describe the external factors beyond our control, which act upon moral decisions we make. Nagel's opinion is that people make moral decisions that may have good or bad intentions, but because of moral luck the outcome may be contrary to what he/she intended. Moral luck can be constitutive, the kind of person that someone is. Some people are born with certain characteristics, which enable them to be more virtuous then others. Others are born with a nasty streak of envy or jealousy, which makes it that much harder for them to make moral decisions. Another type of moral luck is one's circumstances. People are faced with different types of situations and problems, and certain situations make is easier to make the right moral decision. Nagel also describes two types of consequential lucks. One type is antecedent, in which certain consequences took place before the moral act and influence the moral decision to be made. The other type o!f consequential luck is the way actions and decisions
as something that had its full worth in itself. The best way to account for moral luck is judge people by taking into account their intentions and the consequences, which may follow. The student definitely had bad will in this case, however any Consequentalist would say the consequences have shown that no wrong was committed. These people should not be judged harshly for not going to volunteer at hospital. Upon calling the local hospitals she is told that she must first have a physical examination by her doctor to ensure that she is not bring any germs or disease into the hospital. If moral luck were to act on people Kant would judge this person by what his original intentions were. Moral luck has acted upon them, and prevented them from doing these wonderfully moral acts. The student, who had every intention to cheat no finds himself unable to look at anyone's paper and must take the test on his own. " Consequences of actions are not important to a Kantian. However, this theory still does not take into account external forces, which cannot be predetermined. A student may decide that he will not study for a specific exam because he intends to cheat off his neighbor's paper. These factors will determine whether a moral act turns out to be found moral by others or by oneself. A Kantian moral outlook appears to deny the relevance of moral luck because Kant judges actions on the will alone.
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