Analysis of Moral Luck Views of Aristotle and Epictetus Essay

Fate is the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. It is a very common theme used in literature. We’ve seen examples from stories such as: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Iliad. We’ve been reading Oedipus the King written by Sophocles. My main thesis that I would be talking about is if: Oedipus was actually a victim of fate, or did he deserve what he got.

Over the centuries, the concept of fate is constantly being changed to adapt to our current way of living. In modern times the concept of fate is usually connected to the themes of love and romance. However the ancient Greeks recognized fate as an inescapable reality that shaped their lives. The famous playwright, Sophocles, adopts the idea of fate in his plays to control the character’s actions. In both plays, “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”, the writer uses the concept of fate to show human’s inability to conquer the will of the gods.

A tragic hero, determined by Aristotle, must show a nobility and virtue of a certain magnitude however, their path to happiness should be ceased by their destructive vice (Harmartia- the flaw that eventually leads to their downfall). Peripeteia, the point where the character’s fortune changes, must evoke a state of pity and fear amongst the audience, and give above all, a didactic message. The outcome of this characteristic should result in a complex but sole instigation of both the hero’s

By analyzing and comparing St. Augustine’s understanding of providence with the Greco-Roman understanding of fate, one must look into the works of St. Augustine’s Confessions, Virgil’s The Aeneid, as well as Seneca’s “On Providence”. While observing such antiquities, a further notion of providence and fate can be seen through comparing the Christian belief in free will and the ideology of fate from the Greco-Romans through the role that God(s) have in everyday life.

Are people responsible for their actions or is it fate? Is fate inescapable? A person's fate is the events that are destined to happen to them. Fate is decided the moment someone is born. People cannot change their fate and it is unavoidable. Throughout the Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, the hero, Oedipus often tries to run away from what he is destined to do only because of his ignorance to his situation. Throughout the entire play, the conflict of Man versus Fate is often seen as everyone tries to avoid what is fated upon them.

A frequent debate that we have today is whether we have freewill or a divine source controlling our fate. In the events in Oedipus the King, Sophocles portrays how one’s actions, decisions, and personality can affect one’s fate. Fate and freewill play a critical role in several characters’ decisions and downfall.

The gift of free will is an idea accepted by all people, but some, however, believe in it having strict boundaries. The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods, and along with this came obedience to them and their will. One who disobeyed the will of the gods was doomed to suffer a grave punishment. In the case of Greek tragedy, this was the downfall for many tragic heroes. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King follows the plight of a sovereign and well respected king, but whose good intentions led to his ultimate downfall. Oedipus’s steep demise is the result of decisions that he and other people consciously made in a futile attempt to change their grotesquely intertwined fates.

The morality of a person can be affected by the person’s circumstances. This can cause them to act in a way that they will never have acted. A person’s circumstance can affect them negatively. In The Clouds, Strepsiades was in a situation where his son, Pheidippides, had accumulated a lot of debt for him and his creditors were after him. Strepsiades, stressed and desperate about having his property taken, tried to convince his son to learn the Inferior Argument because, “…the Inferior Argument can debate an unjust case and win. All you have to do is learn this Inferior Arguments for me, then you can talk your way out of all the debts I’ve

Fate is an old debated concept. Do one's actions truly play a role in determining one's life? Is fate freedom to some or is it binding to others, in that no individual can make completely individual decisions, and therefore, no one is truly free. Nowadays, fate is a subject often rejected in society, as it is seen as too big, too idealistic, and too hard to wrap a persons head around. However, at the time of Antigone, the concept was a terrifying reality for most people. Fate is the will of the gods, and as is apparent in Antigone, the gods' will is not to be questioned. Much of Sophocles' work focuses on the struggle between human law and what is believed to be the god’s law. Fate was an unstoppable force and it was assumed that any

Greek tragedy says fate has a big impact on our life and arrogance led Oedipus to believe he could escape it. Oedipus is tampering with what the gods had in store for him but this did not change his route because fate is fixed. You can see this as Jocasta and Oedipus both try to avoid their fate, but their actions are pointless because fate was decreed the day they were born. Furthermore, fate directed him to his hometown where he was destined to murder his father and marry his mother. While he thought, he was in control over his life his actions were senseless and beyond his control. Additionally, crossroads are in our everyday life but to the Greeks, we are unable to get away from the forthcoming. Like Oedipus, we have the free will to take a route and avoid the situation but we will end up on the same destined path. Fate ultimately leads you to your rebirth in becoming wiser, because only with failure can we

word moral luck to describe these indescribably incidents. Moral luck, as Nagel defines it, is the aspect that people judge someone based on their actions which relies heavily on the factors beyond their control. Nagel also states that due to these circumstances that will alter the final result we should not be scrutinized for our results.

In this paper, I will discuss Aristotle’s and Boethius’ (Through Lady Philosophy) views on fortune, reflected in the Book 1 of the Nicomachean Ethics and Book 4 of The Consolation of Philosophy. Furthermore, I will present and analyze their arguments, present the conclusion, and make a claim about which ancient philosopher makes the best argument. I will talk about Lady Philosophy’s conclusion that all fortune is capable of benefiting a person, and Aristotle’s inference that even a good and virtuous individual can be affected and harmed by very unfortunate events, by examining their arguments. Moreover, I will conclude and argue that Philosophy’s argument successfully establishes the conclusion.

Fate is known as a predetermined course of events that are beyond a person’s control. Those individuals that acclaim their fate are eventually granted happiness over those who deny and try to change it. For years cultural and religious groups have emphasized how important trusting in your fate is. For example, Sophocles’ play entitled Oedipus Rex exemplifies the repercussions of what happens when you slap fate in the face. In Oedipus Rex, the main character, Oedipus tries to run from and change his fate. Oedipus rejects any signs of help, especially signs of his past. Sophocles uses Oedipus as an aid in this play to demonstrate what could happen if you disregard or alter any predictions of your fate. In Oedipus’ life there are three main

When discussing probability, a text of my previous reading came to mind. Within the lecture Physics II, much of Aristotle’s work is concerned with providing a definition for various events and subjects, and as such, identifying the types of causes for each event is an important step in accomplishing this goal. Aristotle specifically investigates the role of luck and chance as causes of change. Although we commonly speak of luck or chance as being a cause, Aristotle purposefully refrains from including them in his explanation of causes. When giving an account of our observable world, I agree with Aristotle in that there is no place for luck and chance as causes of events, yet I believe they do have a role, namely in predicting future events.

This essay will be examining the ethics of Plato (428-347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 B.C). I will firstly attempt to summarise the five fundamental concepts of Plato and Aristotle before providing my own opinion and view on their ethics. I will concentrate on their theories on the good life as a life of justice, censorship, knowledge and the good life.