Morality, Moral Luck and Responsibility

A critical examination of our understanding of morality and responsibility through the questions raised by the problem of moral luck. The book considers two different approaches to moral luck, the Aristotelian vulnerability to factors outside the agent's control and the Kantian ambition to make morality immune to luck.

Morality, Moral Luck and Responsibility is a critical examination of our understanding of morality and responsibility through the questions raised by the problem of moral luck. The book considers two different approaches to moral luck, the Aristotelian vulnerability to factors outside the agent's control and the Kantian ambition to make morality immune to luck, and concludes that both approaches have more in common than previously thought. At the same time, it also considers recent developments in the field of virtue ethics and neo-kantianism. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in normative theories and the fundamental questions surrounding moral responsibility and the attribution of praise and blame.

'... [a] subtle and systematic exploration of the concept of moral luck and the important challenges it raises... [her] insightful, constructive readings of Aristotle, the Stoics, and Kant uncover points of departure as well as common ground between these important thinkers in the history of ethics.' - Dr Anne Margaret Baxley, Department of Philosophy, Virginia Tech, Virginia, USA

Autorentext
NAFSIKA ATHANASSOULIS is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK, where she teaches moral and practical philosophy. Her research interests include the problem of moral luck, virtue ethics, Aristotle and Kant. She has published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Res Publica and is Editor of a forthcoming volume on medical ethics.

Inhalt
Acknowledgements Abbreviations, Sources and Translations Introduction PART 1: MORAL LUCK Introduction Luck Moral Luck: Examples Moral Luck: A Definition? Conclusion A Note on Style PART 2: ARISTOTLE ON CONSTITUTIVE LUCK Preliminaries Constitutive Luck The Case of Bill Budd and Claggart Natural Tendencies and Cultivated Dispositions Conclusion PART 3: ARISTOTLE ON DEVELOPMENTAL, SITUATIONAL AND RESULTANT LUCK Introduction The Case of Askolnikov Developmental, Situational and Resultant Luck Conclusion PART 4: ARISTOTLE AND REASON Introduction Immunity to Luck Reason Choice and Voluntary Conclusion PART 5: THE STOICS Introduction On the Passions and the Self-sufficiency of the Moral Life On Nature and Fatalism A Solution to the Problem of Moral Luck? Conclusion PART 6: KANT ON LUCK Introduction Kantian Immunity from Luck The Intelligible World Interpreting Kant on the Intelligible/Sensible Distinction PART 7: KANT ON VIRTUE Kantian Virtue Habit and Moral Examples The Doctrine of the Mean Virtue, Vice and Weakness of Will The Role of Inclinations Kantian Character Conclusion PART 8: VIRTUE ETHICS AND NEO-KANTIANS: SLOTE, HURSTHOUSE AND HERMAN Introduction Virtue Ethics Slote Slote on Luck Critique of Slote Hursthouse Hursthouse on Luck Hursthouse on Reason Modern Kantian Ethics: Herman Critique of Herman Conclusion PART 9: CONCLUSION Moral Luck From Aristotle or Kant to Aristotle and Kant Two Pictures of Human Life A Further Distinction Responsibility Conclusion Bibliography