PPE and Philosophy
Two drunk drivers
Two people drive home equally drunk. One hits a child who runs into the road; the other meets no one and gets home safely. Is the first more to blame?
- Hint 1What did each of them control?
- Hint 2Our blame often tracks outcomes. Should it?
- They made the same choice with the same care; only luck differs.
- If blame should track only what we control, they are equally to blame.
- Yet we feel, and the law agrees, that the one who killed has done something worse.
- This is the problem of moral luck: outcomes beyond our control seem to affect blame.
- Either accept that luck affects blame, or say our feelings track harm while blame should not.
Where it lands: Open: a strong answer states the control principle and either defends it or explains why outcomes matter.
The trap: Answering on the facts ('the child ran out, so it was not his fault') and missing the question about luck.
What a tutor might ask next: Does the same apply to praise: is a lucky inventor more admirable than an unlucky one?
Now do one out loud. In the interview you think aloud with a tutor. Try a PPE problem with hints, follow-ups and Mia's feedback on how you think.