more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
It is better for a good decision not to turn out right in action than for a bad decision to turn out right because of chance.
Gist of Idea
Sooner a good decision going wrong, than a bad one turning out for the good
Source
Epicurus (Letter to Menoeceus [c.291 BCE], 135)
Book Ref
Epicurus: 'The Epicurus Reader', ed/tr. Inwood,B. /Gerson,L. [Hackett 1994], p.31
A Reaction
This sounds right, and on the whole the law agrees. Notice that what we need is a 'good decision', and not just to 'mean well'. The well-meaning fool is wicked. I am opposed to consequentialism, and agree with this idea.
| 269 | Attempted murder is like real murder, but we should respect the luck which avoided total ruin [Plato] |
| 14063 | Sooner a good decision going wrong, than a bad one turning out for the good [Epicurus] |
| 5126 | A carelessly thrown brick is condemned much more if it hits someone [Smith,A, by Harman] |
| 20233 | Punishment has distorted the pure innocence of the contingency of outcomes [Nietzsche] |
| 4426 | A bad result distorts one's judgement about the virtue of what one has done [Nietzsche] |
| 23282 | If all that matters in morality is motive and intention, that makes moral luck irrelevant [Williams,B] |
| 3272 | Moral luck can arise in character, preconditions, actual circumstances, and outcome [Nagel] |
| 6700 | We can't criticise people because of unforeseeable consequences [Graham] |
| 20193 | Moral luck means our praise and blame may exceed our control or awareness [Zagzebski] |