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Luck: The Brilliant Randomness Of Everyday Life

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Philosophy lends itself to the discovery of, and arguments over, Great Questions. For instance, the Question of Evil--how does evil exist in a world created by an all-powerful, all-good Creator?--has been debated for centuries since its discovery by early Christian thinkers.

Much of Mr. Rescher's book is an engaging, well-researched series of observations about the role of luck in human affairs, many of which are used to make the frequent point that nothing is 'responsible' for the operation of luck. "Luck pivots on unpredictability," says the author, and backs this up with both historical and hypothetical events in which fate acts in defiance of what its object deserves--either for good or ill.

Yet in making these points, the author either avoids or ignores larger questions that naturally follow from his examples. While he observes that chance frowned upon the passengers of the Titanic and the Jews of World War Two-era Poland, he avoids the related observation that chance frowned more heavily upon the poor passengers and Jews than upon the wealthy and influential. The author defends as rational the impulse to buy a lottery ticket, since a chance at a fortune is better than no chance, yet he ignores that a person who is already wealthy has no need of this fortune, and thus feels no such 'rational' urge.

About two-thirds of the way through the book, the author considers that individual traits bestowed or withheld by luck might have some moral significance, yet--in a tone that seems directly the opposite of the book's previous chapters--he satisfies himself with an oddly bourgeois rule: we are responsible for our moral virtue, regardless of how much of that virtue has been chosen for us by luck or fate. The author wants to insist on this rule so that villains can be condemned for being villains before they perform any wicked acts. Yet this seemingly common-sense position leads to a far more puzzling question: to what degree can one reasonably separate chance from intent? The author points out that a drunk driver who gets home safely is lucky, while a sober driver who kills another motorist by accident is unlucky, but does this distinction of luck really make the drunkard more morally reprehensible than the killer? What if the sober driver was an alcoholic, but had simply not had the chance to get drunk?

The toughest questions arise when the author sternly observes that "We are not morally responsible for _choosing_ our bad character (character is not the sort of thing that is up for choice), but we are morally responsible--and morally reprehensible--for _having_ it." If we are somehow responsible for having bad character chosen for us, are we also responsible for bad circumstances chosen for us? Is a poor child somehow morally responsible for being born into poverty rather than wealth? "Identity must precede luck," states the author. But where environment informs identity, and luck informs environment, can such a statement remain true, if it ever was?

What the author ends up doing in this book is brushing the snow away from around a Great Question: how is justice possible in a world where chance is the predominant force for action? By failing to consider this question and the lesser questions that attend it, Mr. Rescher's book, while enjoyable, remains less than what it could have been.

Rescher's book is a most readable conceptual framework on the role of randomness in our everyday life. Things suchs as destiny, fate and risk are dealt in an clear and elegant fashion. The fact that the book was written by an eminent philosopher does not preclude reading by the layman. On the contrary, the author relates all conceptual framework to aspects of our everyday life.Furthermore there is a sense of humour that permeates the whole text. The book is a must for those bewildered by the curious ways a life may evolve.

How much can be said about luck's role in our lives, aside from the fact that it is all-encompassing? The answer, author Rescher shows us, is plenty indeed. Take Rescher's illustration of the connection between luck and morality, for instance. Suppose a young man burglarizes the home of his grandfather. However, on the night of the theft, the grandfather passes away, bequeathing all of his worldly possessions to his grandson. Is the grandson guilty of a crime? Legally, no. Through the intervention of luck, he was merely stealing -- relocating! -- his own belongings. And yet in his mind he was up to something very nefarious indeed.

Rescher's narrative, while mildly academic in tone, brims with the engaging and imaginative scenario-spinning that is a brilliant philosopher's forte (Rescher is a distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh.)

Whether he's writing about luck's role in war, finance, sports, Vegas, love, or death, Rescher, with this book, shows us how fascinating a learned philosophical reverie can be. LUCK is heartily recommended to readers whose intellects permit them to look beyond the notion, "Luck -- either you have it or you don't."

This book, by a former President of the American Philosophical Association, could be viewed as an unusually erudite blog or as an unusually reader-friendly monograph. It's a wide-ranging discussion of just about every aspect of luck that you can imagine. Everything he says is reasonable, though by using only hypothetical examples to illustrates his points, it often seems to resemble fiction more than everyday life ("the burglar who breaks into a house just before its owner returns well-armed from a bear hunt ...."). He gives an interesting classification of (un)lucky events into windfalls, lost opportunities, accidents, narrow escapes, coincidences, consequence-laden mistakes in identification, fortuitous encounters, and anomalies. (After looking at real-life examples I would add two more categories: other people's actions having (un)favorable consequences for you; once-in-a-lifetime deliberate risk-taking that works out well or badly). His bottom line precepts (be realistic in judgements; be realistic in expectations; be prudently adventuresome; be cautiously optimistic) are unarguably good advice -- but hardly count as novel insight. Brief chapters on history (Gataker (1600s) on when drawing lots is theologically permissible) and morality are more professional in tone. Overall, the book contains extensive rational discussion which, while not getting anywhere in particular, provides starting points for possible explorations of more concrete aspects of luck.

The author explains why luck is an inescapable ingredient in human life. He makes clear that this random ingredient is essential if we are to conceive of ourselves as having free will. He eases concerns that bad luck is somehow the result of lack of worthiness and verifies that good luck often is experienced by unsavory people. He establishes that, by its very nature, luck is not controlled by other characteristics or occurrences of our lives, but there are things we can do to fully benefit from the good luck that we do have.

We live in a world where our aims and goals, our "best-laid plans," and, indeed, our very lives are at the mercy of fortuitous chance and inscrutable contingency."

Nicholas Rescher has written a book on luck that makes me feel lucky to have a dictionary close at hand. Conceptual analysis takes this topic to an entirely new level as we discover a "philosophy of luck."

I almost imagined this book would have seven chapters, but there are definitely nine:

Enigmas of Chance

Failures and Foresight
The Different Faces of Luck
An Infinity of Accidents
Visions of Sugarplums
The Philosophers of Gambling
The Musings of Moralists
Can the Tiger Be Tamed?
Life in a Halfway House.

I have always been taught that there is no such thing as luck all while finding that there are many people who do seem "luckier" than others. Is this due to the correct choices they made or are they really just "lucky?"

Nicholas Rescher has an interest in the human condition and begins his book with a rather startling story, which we would not necessarily consider to have anything to do with luck, although a city is saved by "clouds."

Why is life so unfair for some and so nurturing for others?

How is luck expressed in other languages and why is it that no European language has a single-word expression for "a piece of good luck."

What is the difference between being unfortunate and unlucky?

Is bad luck ever lucky and can luck thrive on vulnerability?

After delving into the meaning of words, Nicholas Rescher delves into mythology, Epicurean philosophy, physics, historical predictability, superstition and iconography. Occasionally he throws in casual, yet humorous comments, like one about how we are probably "lucky" just to be alive, considering the hazards of life itself. After my favorite cat suddenly got sick and died on the last Friday the 13th, I have started to wonder about the luck of cats on Friday the 13th. Although, our vet said that he had an underlying condition, which suddenly emerged and life can definitely feel "unlucky." Needless to say, feeling unlucky can make one rather angry or you can try to flow with life's challenges.

Is it really "luck" that causes us to meet someone or read a book or watch a movie? Or, are we sending out thoughts into the universe and creating our own realities. Does "luck" have more to do with our own decisions or with a random ubiquitous force? I did like the idea on page 22 where the author explores the possibilities of putting yourself in luck's way. As he says, you will never win the lottery if you fail to obtain a ticket. Even though I think most would be luckier if they chose to invest the money they were spending on the lottery tickets. His ideas about how relying on luck courts disaster seemed very logical.

All I am left thinking is "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?" My husband knows exactly how to say this and makes me laugh every time he remembers how Clint Eastwood says this line! I'll admit, sometimes I feel pretty lucky to be married to someone who makes me laugh.

Nicholas Rescher has an interesting and highly intellectual writing style, which at times spins your mind off into unexplored territory. You might feel lucky to have this book with you when you are in the mood to immerse yourself in philosophical musing.

~The Rebecca Review

In this small monograph Rescher shows himself to be an approachable philosopher/ethnologist. A fascinating cultural tour exploring where the idea of "luck" comes from and what we mean by it. Chapter 1 examines the etymology of the concept and related words and phrases. We meet the goddess Fortuna (lady luck), daughter of Jupiter - female, fickle yet nurturing and seen as an ally of Necessity (Anagké), her "wheel of fortune" raises one up and down in a cycle "as the wheel turns". Oddly she is quite separate from the 3 Fates which represent the different philosophical thread of predetermination/fatalism.

Luck defies predictability. Only the improbable, good or bad, may be considered lucky. Once luck may entail disaster, such as missing a plane that crashes, or as minor as bumping into a long lost friend unexpectedly. Luck may favour the diligent or the prepared, but luck is also dumb luck and serves as a great equalizer. Luck even plays a role in our notion of fairness as in selection through the drawing lots that took place in Hebrew, Greek, Roman and other cultures. Even the Gospels mention that the Roman soldiers used lots to divide the garments of Jesus between them.

The ideas of Aquinus, Shakespeare, Epicurus, Plato, Popper, Kant and Newton and grace the pages. Many of our modern ideas about probability and therefore luck originate at the start of enlightenment around 1619 where Thomas Garaker published a treatise "On the Nature and use of Lots". The ideas where then echoed and developed by others including philosophers and mathematicians. Even Einstein worries about luck with his consternation that "God does not play dice with the universe."

Rescher is both intensive and a delightful raconteur. Recommended for those interested in the history of ideas and IMV it would make a nice gift for someone about to engage in a new business or marriage - so that they may embrace the essence of good fortune. ;-)

Enjoyable and amusing yarn on the subject of luck! Interesting how some people view their success as a result of their hard work or background while it just might have been that they were lucky? And others were just plain unlucky. Not sure if luck can really be managed according to the author? Sometimes luck just happens!