Thomas Nagel Moral Luck Summary

When it comes to defining morality and establishing the difference between right and wrong, there are several different approaches. One might ask who is responsible for distinguishing between right and wrong and ultimately what is moral and immoral. Is this concept different between individuals? Is it different between cultures? In Julia Driver’s 2007 piece, “God and Human Nature”, theories are discussed in order to convey a better understanding of morality and how it is determined. The theory to be discussed is the “Divine Command Theory” and Driver discusses the role of God in assessing morality.

Good and bad, two small words that have so much meaning. What makes people react the way they do? Are people born to be good or bad, or do they have any control over what they will become? Can personal experience impact a person’s values by changing their views on life? The truth is that all people are born with both, good and bad tendencies. Also, it is true that the environment people grow up and personal experiences can reinforce or shape their values for better. Rudolfo Anaya shows how this can occur in "A Celebration of Grandfathers". Louisa May Alcott also illustrates this process in her story, "Little Women." Anaya in "A Celebration of Grandfathers" and Amy in "Little Women,” show that personal experiences and the environment that people grow up definitely can shape their values for a lifetime.

People think that inherent goodness does not exist, but it is more prevalent than one might think. Although the topic of inherent goodness can be difficult to think about, talking about it is sometimes easier. Inherent goodness has been created over time as a mindset that people are born good, and nobody is born bad. Everyone wants to do the right thing. For an extreme example, a terrorist thinks he is doing the right thing by setting off a bomb. Many situations in life can put into action inherent good, and many people will channel this good. Inherent good can be difficult to explain, but many examples can explain it in great detail.

Philippa Foot presented a series of moral dilemmas when she discussed abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect. One famous problem of her was the trolley dilemma: “..he is the driver of a runaway tram which he can only steer from one narrow track onto another; five men are working on one track and one on the other; anyone the tack he enters is bound to be killed.” (Foot, 1967, p. 2) What should the driver do? Despite what he does, he will harm someone!1

“Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” As Eric Burdon said, we have the potential of both good and evil, but it isn’t fixed at birth. People cannot be born with a bad heart, they do not start on the “ the dark side” so to say. They grow to be evil and brooding depending on their circumstances, the situations that they have been put through, and the choices they make during them. People also need a guide, or friend to help them stay on that side, never letting them into wrongdoing. This is shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies , as the boys are pushed through terrible obstacles, and the task to survive. Golding shows amazingly

This is because we cannot officially define what the words “good” or “evil” really mean. The answer depends on the opinion of the person being asked. Many people believe that we can be born bad. However, there exists a significantly stronger argument that people are indeed born good. There is factual evidence that supports this claim. People are born good, the best sources we have points towards this. Babies are the most un-influenced people on the planet. Their actions have been studied and they all point towards the same thing, that we are indeed born good. I highly suggest you ponder this question of human nature. Who knows, maybe it will change your overall perspective on the

In the real world when people are faced with choices these choices have consequences and deeply impact our loved ones, whether we intend them to or not. By challenging any set of beliefs, standards or ideals can be difficult, but one must be aware of those consequences and how they will alter the course of our life. Morality is a strong guiding compass in making difficult decisions, and is often the one that is most difficult to follow when put against the will of

People, for the most part, are inherently good. It is life that makes them evil, people are affected by events, influences, and circumstances. For the most part, there is an explanation for every “evil” person 's behavior. I will focus on the impact that conditions have on people, as well as the cases of inherently evil people.

Wolf explains how an agent that performs the right actions is determined the right way because the actions are determined for the right interests and reasons. A person who is undetermined cannot be a moral agent because their actions cannot be determined by moral interests and moral reasons. This leads to two conditions for moral responsibility; which is the condition of freedom, that means the actions are under your control “could have done otherwise.” Then the second condition is the condition of value which is when moral claims are applied. If the first condition is satisfied then the second condition is not in effect which makes moral responsibility incoherent because a free agent cannot be moral and a moral agent cannot be free. When we look at people who do bad actions like steal a persons wallet or do drugs then we say that “they could have done otherwise,” thus this means they will be punished. But when a person does deserve praise then we don't say that “they could have done otherwise.” If a person does a generous act like return a wallet that they found without hesitation or question because they are acting from the right moral reason from recognition, then this does not disinclined them from being praised; they will be praised. The character of this agent might be determined, thus meaning that her generous character isn't under her control. Generosity

Thomas Nagel’s “Death” has a central theme that is addressed. Nagel explores the idea that if death is a lasting and permanent end to our lives on earth, it could be bad. Nagel uses this theme and goes on to give two possible arguments. In the first argument, Nagel explains that life is all we really have in the end and because death puts an end to our life, it must be our greatest loss in life. The second position he takes is that the person who actually dies will not experience any loss whether it is positive or negative because death will end that person’s life and their existence anyway. Nagel then goes on to examine whether or not death is an evil. He states that if death is in fact an evil, it has nothing to do with

The life one chooses to live is not necessarily a choice. At a young age parents imprint their own views and beliefs on the young moldable child whether they mean to or not. The views ones obtained when you are older are inevitably based upon the ones that their parents had expressed when they were younger. The idea of right and wrong or good and bad come from the way a child is raised and often the views that is taught to a child by their parents is not commonly accepted and creates a harder life in the future for the child. As a young man, Biff Loman struggles in life because of the bad and negative teachings from his father Willy Loman. Being raised in contrary to popular belief and being blind to right and wrong his entire life, Biff could

People have always had an overwhelming desire to be accepted by others, and will even adopt the morals of their peers in order to conform to society. In the story “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson depicts the danger of ignorance and the extent in which it influences society. Not only is this applicable to the story, but is also relevant to the real world and historical events such as witch hunts.

Every day we as citizens of this country make decisions either consciously or unconsciously on how we go about our daily lives. We make all of our decisions based on our own personal moral behavior and what we believe in. Moral rules are defined in the book as things along the lines of people should not drink in excess or children should come before self (pg. 26). One’s moral behavior is primarily based on how they were brought up and what they were raised to believe. To test ones moral behavior ask yourself whether you perceive stealing, whether it be a candy bar from a gas station or stealing someone’s purse as wrong or right. Whatever the answer you just picked, you picked it because of your very own personal moral behavior.

The debate regarding whether or not humans are ultimately responsible for their actions and decisions has grown rapidly in the twenty-first century, as this debate was mainly a theological and philosophical debate, rather than a scientific one, and mainly a debate restricted to experts and scholars. The two opposing theories which create such a debate are Libertarianism and Determinism. Libertarianism proposes the argument that free choice is true, and since it is true, complete causal determinism must be false and does not exist. This view accepts the psychological image and rejects the mechanistic image of one’s actions and decisions. The psychological image, also known as the ‘common sense view’ looks at the mind, feelings, and emotions,

The understanding that some people are good or bad widespread all over the world.” The evil comes from human history and continue until today” and even today this statement has existed. Moreover, when people want to explain why people do some evil acts, the discussion often end with words like “people initially are born evil”. However, some other people argued that people are born good. Because of these many critics has debates such as: are people born bad, good or just like naked board without any morality.