Moral luck can be simply defined by
blaming or honoring an individual based on the “lucky” outcome of
their actions; good or bad. To expand on this notion, I will use the
example of a person drinking under the influence of alcohol. If I
were to get behind the wheel of my car drunk, I have sole
accountability of what happens next. If I choose to drive the car on
a public road, not only do I endanger my own personal life, but the
lives of those are are benign to the condition that I am in. If I
hit an innocent pedestrian crossing the street, I will be charged
with manslaughter or even murder. However, if I get stopped at a
DUI check point, the judgment that gets passed against me, might be
less severe. Does this seem just? Is this an ethical problem?
In my opinion I think that it is
righteous, and not an ethical problem. I would consider the person
that got stopped at a DUI check-point stupid for getting behind the
wheel drunk. At the same time I would consider that individual
extremely lucky, considering that they did not hurt anyone. As for
the individual who did inflict damage on someone, has to deal with
the “bad luck” of having seriously hurt someone. All of this of
course depends on forces that are out of our control. Thus this is
why I believe that the punishment should fit the crime. Both
individuals in this example have the full control to decide not to
drive drunk. However they both took a gamble, and the one that
killed someone lost. At the same time the individual who was stopped
at the DUI check-point, should have slightly less severe punishment
for the first time. If he commits the crime again, there should be
no reason why he or she should not also be tried for attempted
manslaughter.
In other words, I think our society has
accepted the fact of moral luck as a norm. If you drive drunk and
get caught you will be reprimanded. If you drive drunk and kill
someone, then you are still responsible because you initiated the
actions that concluded the unfortunate event. Luck in this case is
good and bad. Society will continue to punish bad luck.
Out.
Your blog as a whole is fantastic and I can't seem to find anything wrong with it. Your examples and your argument are very strong and you do a great way in describing moral luck in your opinion.
ReplyDeleteYou made a lot of good points and have a strong argument. The only problem is that you were supposed to use a real life experience where you experienced moral luck.
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