The Myth of Luck : Philosophy, Fate, and Fortune

Luck is a golden thread woven through the tapestry of the history of ideas, uniting gods and gamblers, philosophers and theologians, emperors, scientists, and slaves. 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, Oedipus and the Stoics understood luck, before entering the theoretical world of probability and exploring how luck relates to Aquinas, Galileo, ethics, Russian Roulette, Camus, 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. "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 Cover Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 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 The 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 Out of Control Divide and Conquer 6 The Irrational Biases of Luck The Frame Shop Dueling Vignettes The (Un)Luckiest Man in the World Sailing Stones and Flying Witches Machine Gambling Against Luck Go Luck Yourself Notes Bibliography of Works Cited Index