Abstract

Character ethics needs a way to account for the role of constitutive moral luck. The character ethics tradition holds agents responsible for acquiring traits that constitute a good moral character; but the circumstances of character formation are not fully in our control. Thus, an agent’s character—and moral status—are at least partly matters of luck. The proposed approach draws from recent work in character ethics to re-think moral agency as inescapably situated in a luck-laden context. A view of agency as situated accounts for luck by attributing moral significance to contingencies that shape character, including hardships and forces outside a person’s control. Assessing an agent’s situatedness can preserve responsibility by emphasizing responses to luck, thereby highlighting areas of choice overlooked in normative ethical theory. The chapter concludes that constitutive moral luck is not a problem for, but an aspect of, situated agency.