Moral luck is a term used by Nagel to describe the external factors beyond our control, which determine our actions upon certain moral decisions we make. Nagel's opinion is that people make moral decisions that may have good or bad intentions, but because of moral luck the outcome may be contrary to what he/she intended. Moral luck can be constitutive, the kind of person that someone is. Some people are born with certain characteristics, which enable them to be more virtuous then others. Others are born with a nasty streak of envy or jealousy, which makes it that much harder for them to make the best moral decisions. Another type of moral luck is one's circumstances. Some people were just born into better situations then others. People are faced with different types of situations and problems, and certain situations make is easier to make the right moral decision. …show more content…
One type is antecedent, in which certain consequences took place before the moral act and influence the moral decision to be made. The other type of consequential luck is the way actions and decisions turn out. Basically, moral luck is all the outside factors, which are beyond human control. These factors will determine whether a moral act turns out to be found moral by others or by oneself. A student may decide that he will not study for a specific exam because he intends to cheat off his neighbor's paper. However, upon arriving to class he finds that all the seats but one in the front of the classroom are taken. The student who had every intention to cheat now finds that he is unable to look at anyone's paper and must take the test on his own. This is an example of moral luck. According to Kant the student should be judged as having committed a moral wrong because Kant believes that moral acts must be judged on good or bad