Myth of luck : philosophy, fate and fortune / Steven D. Hales.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hales, Steven D., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Necessity (Philosophy).

Fate and fatalism.

Fortune.

Chance.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Distribution:

[London, England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London [England] : Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

"Humanity has thrown everything we have at implacable luck-novel theologies, entire philosophical movements, fresh branches of mathematics-and yet we seem to have gained only the smallest edge on the power of fortune. The Myth of Luck tells us why we have been fighting an unconquerable foe. Taking us on a guided tour of one of our oldest concepts, we begin in ancient Greece and Rome, considering how Plato, Plutarch, and the Stoics understood luck, before entering the theoretical world of probability and exploring how luck relates to theology, sports, ethics, gambling, knowledge, and present-day psychology. As we travel across traditions, times and cultures, we come to realize that it's not that as soon as we solve one philosophical problem with luck that two more appear, like heads on a hydra, but rather that the monster is altogether mythological. We cannot master luck because there is nothing to defeat: luck is no more than a persistent and troubling illusion. By introducing us to compelling arguments and convincing reasons that explain why there is no such thing as luck, we finally see why in a very real sense we make our own luck, that luck is our own doing. The Myth of Luck helps us to regain our own agency in the world - telling the entertaining story of the philosophy and history of luck along the way."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

1. Lachesis's Lottery and the History of Luck

The Myth of Er

Tuche and Fortuna

Submission to luck: lucky charms

Rebellion against luck: Stoicism

Denial of luck: all is fated

Luck and gambling

2.Luck and Skill

Slaying Laplace's Demon

A probability theory of luck

Winners and losers

Buying hope on credit

A skill equation?

Problems with probability

3. Fragility and Control

Invisible cities of the possible

The garden of (logically) forking paths

A modal theory of luck

Transworld 2000

Lucky necessities

A control theory of luck

Séances and rubber hands

Wimbledon 2012

Synchronic and diachronic luck

4. Moral Luck

The Kantian puzzle

The Egg of Columbus

The accidental Nazi and the museum of medical oddities

Equalizing fortune

Privilege

Essential origins

5. Knowledge and Serendipity

Finding Meno

Discover " forget

The man who sold the Eiffel Tower and other skeptical threats

The Overton Window

Serendipity

Divide and conquer

6. The Irrational Biases of Luck

The frame shop

Dueling vignettes

Optimism vs. pessimism

Sailing stones and flying witches

Machine gambling

Against luck

Go luck yourself

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350149311

1350149314

9781350149328

1350149322

9781350149304

1350149306

OCLC:

1183963366