Luck: The Brilliant Randomness Of Everyday Life

250 Pages·2001·8.618 MB·English

by  Nicholas Rescher

u
c
L K
THE BRILLIANT RANDOMNESS
OF EVERYDAY LIFE

u c
L K
THE BRILLIANT RANDOMNESS
OF EVERYDAY LIFE
NICHOLAS
RESCHER
UNIVERSITY OF
PITTSBURGH PRESS
Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15261
Copyright © 1995 by Nicholas Rescher
All rights reserved
Published by arrangement with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC
Printed in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper
1098765432 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rescher, Nicholas.
Luck: the brilliant randomness of everyday life I Nicholas Rescher.-Ist ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Chance. 2. Fortune. 3. Fate and fatalism. I. Title.
BD595.R47 1995 123'.3-dc20 95-17421 CIP
ISBN 0-8229-5755-8
FOR DOROTHY,
My OWN BIT OF GOOD LUCK

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments Xl
Introduction 3
1. Luck and the Human Condition 3
2. The Language of Luck 6
3. The Iconography of Luck: The Domain of Fortuna 8
4. Luck's Long Reach 12
I. ENIGMAS OF CHANCE 19
1. Luck and the Unexpected 19
2. How Luck Works 24
3. Luck versus Fate and Fortune 28
4. What Is Luck? 31
5. Luck and the Extra-Ordinary 34
II. FAILURES OF FORESIGHT 41
1. The Limits of Predictability 41
2. Ontological Impredictability: Chance 42
3. Chaos 46
4. Choice 50
5. Ignorance 53
6. How Impredictability Diffuses 60
7. Misprediction: Prediction Spoilers 62
8. Luck and Human Finitude 64
VII
CONTENTS
III. THE DIFFERENT FACES OF LUCK 69
1. Modes of Luck 69
2. Real versus Apparent Luck 77
3. Categorical versus Conditional Luck 80
4. The Measurement of Luck: Fortune and Probability
as Luck-Determinative Factors 84
IV. AN INFINITY OF ACCIDENTS 87
1. The Prominence of Luck in Human Affairs 87
2. Luck in Settings of Competition and Conflict 90
3. Foresight versus Chance in Human History 94
V. VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS 102
1. Attitudes Toward Luck: Luck as Friend and Foe 102
2. The P~ychology of Luck 107
3. Luck and Wisdom: The Proverbial Perspective 11 0
4. Luck as an Equalizer in Gambling and Sport 113
VI. THE PHILOSOPHERS OF GAMBLING 115
1. Introduction 115
2. Four Theorists 116
3. The Ethos of the Era 13 3
VII. THE MUSINGS OF MORALISTS 140
1. Owing to Luck's Chanciness,
Fairness Does Not Enter into It 140
VIII
CONTENTS
2. The Political Economy of Luck and the
Issue of Compensation 146
3. Luck the Leveler 150
4. Can One Have Moral Luck? 151
5. The Centrality of the Ordinary 158
6. The Perspective of the Greeks 161
7. The Normative Dimension 170
VIII. CAN THE TIGER BE T AMEO? 172
1. Luck Is Not an Agent that Can Be Propitiated 172
2. Luck Can Be Influenced Not by
Superstitious Manipulation but by Prudence 177
3. Taking One's Chances 180
4. Common Sense in Dealing with Matters of Luck 182
5. More on Handling Risks 185
IX. LIFE IN A HALFWAY HOUSE 189
l. There's No Taking the Luck out of Life 189
2. Life in a Halfway House 192
3. Luck and the Human Condition 199
4. Luck and Reason 201
5. An Evolutionary Perspective 205
Appendix: Taking Luck's Measure 211
Notes 213
Name Index 233
IX