There are many things that are out of our control, and how lucky we are in life is one of them. There are two major factors that determine how we are judged, and yet neither is in our control.
The first is called constitutive luck. Constitutive luck is the traits and dispositions one possesses and how this influences the way they act. For example, we cannot control how kind, cooperative, or forgiving we are; or how disrespectful, stubborn, or spiteful we are. And yet, we are constantly judged based on how we act because of these characteristics.
The second is circumstantial luck. This determines the lives and situations we find ourselves in which we did not choose to be a part of. For example, American soldiers are praised for fighting in World War II, while Nazi soldiers are condemned for it, despite both being forced to battle for their country.
Now let’s look at an example combining these two types of luck. Let’s say two people, Person A and Person B, both go to a party and get equally drunk. Neither can find a ride home, so they both make the poor decision to drive home intoxicated. However, Person A makes it home without issue, meanwhile, Person B hits and kills a pedestrian. Who is more culpable? At first, it may seem as though Person B is more blameworthy because their actions resulted in someone’s death. However, neither person had control over their personal traits or life situation, such as how much alcohol they could handle, their capacity for reasoning, or their lack of an alternative ride home. Person A just got morally lucky compared to Person B. So, is it fair to blame Person B more than Person A?
This example is also the third type of moral luck called consequential luck, in which one does not have control over the results of their actions but is still condemned for them.
This concept ties back into the idea that we have no free will and thus no governing over any aspect of our lives. However, if we have no control over our wants, beliefs, preferences, personality, life events, and ultimately decisions and behaviors, then how can we be judged morally for any consequence of our choices and actions if everything is just based on moral luck? There is no straightforward answer to this question, but I hope you take the time to ponder it for a bit to come up with your own idea for moral judgment when associated with moral luck.
It’s interesting that the definition of constitutive luck encompasses the idea that one cannot control how “kind, cooperative, or forgiving we are.” It is an interesting concept to think about. At first, I would say that you can indeed control how kind you are because it is a choice. However, the more I think about it, perhaps there is something innate about how one acts.
This is definitely something that I haven’t put a lot of deep thought into but have certainly thought about before in wondering why do some people seem to be consistently more lucky than others? This is super interesting!