Morality, Moral Luck and Responsibility - by N Athanassoulis (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Morality, Moral Luck and Responsibility is a critical examination of our understanding of morality and responsibility through the questions raised by the problem of moral luck. The book considers two different approaches to moral luck, the Aristotelian vulnerability to factors outside the agent's control and the Kantian ambition to make morality immune to luck, and concludes that both approaches have more in common than previously thought. At the same time, it also considers recent developments in the field of virtue ethics and neo-kantianism. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in normative theories and the fundamental questions surrounding moral responsibility and the attribution of praise and blame.

Review Quotes

'... [a] subtle and systematic exploration of the concept of moral luck and the important challenges it raises... [her] insightful, constructive readings of Aristotle, the Stoics, and Kant uncover points of departure as well as common ground between these important thinkers in the history of ethics.' - Dr Anne Margaret Baxley, Department of Philosophy, Virginia Tech, Virginia, USA

About the Author

NAFSIKA ATHANASSOULIS is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK, where she teaches moral and practical philosophy. Her research interests include the problem of moral luck, virtue ethics, Aristotle and Kant. She has published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Res Publica and is Editor of a forthcoming volume on medical ethics.