Very nice question; better, in fact than the statement to which you responded.. Examples I have in mind:
Personal level injustice.
Social injustice.
How other people treat you.
But my primary point was whether things for which we are personally responsible is a bigger or lesser influence than luck. That is, if I am guessing with little knowledge, I am going to guess desert before luck for most groups with which I’d be interacting.
(Also, I am thinking that variation in luck, when the fact of variation if predictable and bad luck can be insured or mitigated, is desert, not luck.)
Particular applications might make it more clear. If you don’t have a job in America, and you appear physically able to work, my first guess is that you are the biggest contributor to your unemployment. If you are unhealthy in America, and weren’t born with it, my first approximation will be that you contributed mightily to your poor health. And so on.
If you fail to buy car insurance, you deserve the expected cost?
I was thinking deserving something bad meant you did something bad, not that you did something stupid.
When you say “deserve,” do you mean to imply that it is terminally better for people who deserve more to get more, and people who deserve less to get less?
If you fail to buy auto liability insurance and cause an accident (which is entirely predictable over long periods), then my first guess is that you deserve the impoverishment that comes from the situation.
If you fail to buy uninsured motorist insurance and are in an accident that you don’t cause (which is entirely predictable) and faulty driver has no insurance and can’t pay (which is also entirely predictable), then my first approximation is still pretty good. It is a little off because you could be beset with e string of bad luck.
I think of it the other way around. If I see someone happy and reasonably well off, I am first going to say that they had a hand in it. If I see someone continually unhappy or impoverished (setting aside birth luck), my first guess is also going to be that they are mainly responsible for their own outcomes. Turning it round, they are usually getting what they deserve.
Whether that is better or not depends on more than individual morality, so no, I’m not saying it is better.
Also, the examples seem to have focused on material outcomes, since they are easier to talk about, but I’m also thinking of non-material things. Relationships, self-esteem, etc.
Very nice question; better, in fact than the statement to which you responded.. Examples I have in mind:
Personal level injustice.
Social injustice.
How other people treat you.
But my primary point was whether things for which we are personally responsible is a bigger or lesser influence than luck. That is, if I am guessing with little knowledge, I am going to guess desert before luck for most groups with which I’d be interacting.
(Also, I am thinking that variation in luck, when the fact of variation if predictable and bad luck can be insured or mitigated, is desert, not luck.)
Particular applications might make it more clear. If you don’t have a job in America, and you appear physically able to work, my first guess is that you are the biggest contributor to your unemployment. If you are unhealthy in America, and weren’t born with it, my first approximation will be that you contributed mightily to your poor health. And so on.
Max L.
If you fail to buy car insurance, you deserve the expected cost?
I was thinking deserving something bad meant you did something bad, not that you did something stupid.
When you say “deserve,” do you mean to imply that it is terminally better for people who deserve more to get more, and people who deserve less to get less?
If you fail to buy auto liability insurance and cause an accident (which is entirely predictable over long periods), then my first guess is that you deserve the impoverishment that comes from the situation.
If you fail to buy uninsured motorist insurance and are in an accident that you don’t cause (which is entirely predictable) and faulty driver has no insurance and can’t pay (which is also entirely predictable), then my first approximation is still pretty good. It is a little off because you could be beset with e string of bad luck.
I think of it the other way around. If I see someone happy and reasonably well off, I am first going to say that they had a hand in it. If I see someone continually unhappy or impoverished (setting aside birth luck), my first guess is also going to be that they are mainly responsible for their own outcomes. Turning it round, they are usually getting what they deserve.
Whether that is better or not depends on more than individual morality, so no, I’m not saying it is better.
Also, the examples seem to have focused on material outcomes, since they are easier to talk about, but I’m also thinking of non-material things. Relationships, self-esteem, etc.
Max L.