Wrong Action In Nagel's Theories Of Moral Luck

As time goes on and new generations come about, many of the ideals of former generations seem to become irrelevant. Scott LaBarge, a professor of philosophy, elaborates on this idea and others in his essay. “Why Heroes Are Important” is LaBarge’s pursuit to persuade others of his idea of heroes in today’s society. He claims that many of our youth do not know what a proper hero is and that former generations should be educating them. LaBarge begins his persuasion by describing his personal experience and credibility; then, he briefly describes the history of heroes to tie in his opinion on the definition; finally, he uses Aristotle’s idea of Kairos to explain how his opinion proves true according to current events.

Our society views being heroic as somebody who is selfless, sympathetic, and courageous. In the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand the main character, Equality 7-2521, is living in a collectivist society, in which the Council creates and enforces the laws. In this society all men are equal, and once they reach a certain age, they are assigned a job by the Council., .Equality 7-2521 displays courage because he risks being punished by hiding the Uncharted Forest from other people and the Council. In the story it states “We shall not report it to any man … see us lashed to death before your eyes”. (Rand 34) This quote states that Equality 7-2521 would rather be harmed or killed than reveal the Uncharted Forest to anybody. This means that Equality 7-2521

The media influence has glorified and immortalized these heroes. We have relied on the media to portray as such. Do not get me wrong, their good deeds do not go unnoticed but because of the media’s stance on our heroes, these have become more important. The patterns of these heroes are media made and not a result of true heroic

In the eyes of today’s society, heroes are viewed as citizens who have accomplished what seems to be the impossible. Whether imaginary or not, heroes are looked at with awe and congratulated for what they have done for the society. However, there is a much simpler way to be a hero. A hero does not have to be able to climb walls, fly over the city, or even save someone from a burning building right before it crumbles down. A hero is simply someone who goes out of the way to give help to those around them that need it. This hero does not need recognition in what he or she does, but takes pride in what they have accomplished for others. In the novel Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, Bardia, the King’s lead guard, acts as the hero for Orual

While most of society define heroism as a person who saves lives, people with heroism show bravery and opposition to society or its laws. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, King Creon defies his society’s laws for his own self pride while in Voltaire’s novel Candide, a young boy breaks his uncle’s rule to fulfill his desires. Both characters challenge their society’s laws and take a stand against the flawed principles; however, should people consider Creon and Candide as heroes? Individuals do not have an obligation to challenge laws due to the fact that it leads to multiple deaths and the suffering of themselves or of others.

Nagel identifies four types of luck: constitutive, circumstantial, causal, and resultant. He identifies these phenomena to support his claim that almost all our actions are contingent on luck, but that moral judgments are made nonetheless.

Nagel identifies four types of luck: constitutive, circumstantial, causal, and resultant. He identifies these phenomena to support his claim that almost all our actions are contingent on luck, but that moral judgments are made nonetheless.

A hero is universally seen as a selfless individual who puts the needs of others before themselves. Heroes usually hold the same values; honor, nobility, integrity, and strength. Now what happens when a person does not hold those heroic values? What if their motivations did not have good intentions? These are the questions that will be answered using the deconstruction critical lenses. “Today, it is much harder to detach the concept of heroism from morality; we only call heroes those whom we admire and wish to emulate.” (Lebarge web) The Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur has evolved into the modern trilogy of Batman which, when deconstructed, reveals how the selfish motivations of

Modern culture does not love only the anti-hero; modern culture loves nearly anything it finds praiseworthy. This encompasses a

Williams also delivers the idea of agent-regret which, to him, matters to the person in the unlucky case more than any extrinsic moral judgments. Agent-regret is defined as “thought being formed in part by first personal conceptions of how one might have acted otherwise”, (Williams, p.27), and required “a first-personal subject-matter” and “not yet merely a particular kind of psychological content, but also a particular kind of expression”, (Williams, 27). Hence, even if the driver A is morally treated as equal as driver B, the agent-regret of guilt may follow him to the

George Orwell’s definition of a hero is quite different than the one we might be familiar with. He believed that true heroes were ordinary people doing

In “Mortal Questions," Thomas Nagel attempts to show that some human experiences are completely beyond understanding. Nagel attempts to justify that even though your life has ends, the choices one makes will not influence the end result. Nagel first clarifies his position by defining a few terms. Agent, as Nagel describes it, is defined as being in control of one’s life. Nagel states that end results are influenced by a combination of factors and that it is not in the agent’s control. In this paper, I will describe Nagels reasoning for believing that one cannot control their ends and fates. Fate is the event beyond a person’s control. Then, I will provide two reasons to object that the idea that one’s actions do not influence the end results is false.

American Heroes were inspired by Greek Tragic Heroes, yet both are very different from each other, but American Heroes have very similar traits to those who are Contemporary Heroes.  An American Hero is a person who seeks justice and always defeats the enemy which results in all people having the justice they deserve.  American Heroes also tends to protect all and has the tendency to fall in love with the “ damsel in distress”.  This type of hero goes about his daily life, just like anyone else would, until it is time to fight, and at that time, their “supernatural” powers shine through in their fighting techniques.  On the other side, all Tragic Heroes possess a flaw that will change their life from a life of happiness to a life of pain and despair.   Ordinarily, Contemporary Heroes have nearly the same traits as American Heroes.  Contemporary Heroes save and protect many individuals from violence and harm and lives a normal life until they have to face another obstacle.  Both American and Contemporary Heroes are able to celebrate their victories, while Tragic Heroes can not do so because they are not victorious.

Today a lot of individuals are praised for their bravery and their heroism. A lot of

Rethinking what we have been programmed to believe is what Nagel encourages us to do, making us wonder if what we have believed to be true is real. I often think about the meaning of life and the course life events are playing out; are people reacting to what is they believe to be true or is it reality. Nagel invites us to explore the mind and brain in order to find the answer for ourselves.