Chapman University Philosophy Talk

“Refocusing the Problem of Moral Luck:  From Control to Contingency”

Friday April 26th, 2:30-4pm
Location:  Argyros Forum 211

Speaker:  Andrew Khoury

Dr. Khoury is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Philosophy at Arizona State University. His research focuses on topics at the intersection of moral philosophy, moral psychology, and metaphysics, with an emphasis on issues surrounding free will and moral responsibility.

Abstract:
The problem of moral luck arises due to a particular tension in our thought. On the one hand, we seem readily inclined to endorse the principle that moral responsibility, that is, one’s praiseworthiness or blameworthiness, cannot be affected by luck, that is, by factors over which one lacks control. But, when we examine our actual practices, we find that our moral judgments are highly sensitive to luck. This resulting tension between principle and practice is the problem of moral luck, and an attempt to solve this problem is an attempt to resolve this tension. The article first explains the traditional characterization of the problem and reviews three general strategies in responding to it. It is then argued that we should characterize the problem in a slightly broader way. This refocusing turns out to have significant methodological implications.

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