Philosophy
Moral Luck and the Problem of Control in Ethical Evaluation
Quick fact
Philosopher Thomas Nagel identified four types of moral luck: result, circumstance, constitutive, and causal. Result luck alone explains why we judge a negligent driver more harshly when they happen to kill someone than when they cause no harm—even though the only difference is luck.
Why this is interesting
Imagine two drivers who both run a red light. One hits a pedestrian; the other doesn't. We blame the first far more harshly, but wasn't their driving the same?