moral luck, n.Definitions

Moral luck (n.) does ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not exist for the Stoic: the criminal who never got his chance is as guilty as the one who did.

Moral luck (n.) works ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠both ways: the law that stands the criminal in good stead when his act has few consequences is the same law by which the good act must be content to have few or none.

Moral luck (n.) decides ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠whether "Gauguin" was right to abandon his family for Tahiti: we can judge only afterward, by whether he became a genius.

Moral luck (n.) shapes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the raw material of character, genes, home, climate, but the mind that keeps a trait alive is its sustaining cause and is answerable for it.