EigoPro 1級 読解 — The Verdict of Fortune: Moral Luck and the Limits of Responsibility

We are taught, almost as a moral axiom, that we can be praised or blamed only for what lies within our control. Yet our actual practices of judgement flagrantly violate this principle. Consider two equally reckless drivers: one arrives home without incident, while the other, through no greater negligence, strikes a child who darts into the road. We condemn the second far more harshly, even prosecute him, though the difference between them is nothing but a swerve of chance. This is the disquieting phenomenon that philosophers, following Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel, have termed moral luck. The paradox cuts deep. If we are serious about confining responsibility to the voluntary, we ought to assess the two drivers identically, since their wills were indistinguishable. But no court, and few consciences, can sustain such impartiality once a corpse is involved. The outcome, however fortuitous, seems to reach back and recolour the act itself. Nor is the difficulty confined to consequences. The dispositions from which we act, the circumstances that test us, even the very constitution of our characters, are bequeathed by a lottery of birth and upbringing over which we exercised no authorship whatever. Some philosophers respond by retreating: they propose to strip away every contaminating accident until a pure, luck-free kernel of agency remains, the bare intention deserving of judgement. But this manoeuvre, pressed to its conclusion, dissolves the very self it sought to vindicate, leaving nothing substantial to which credit or culpability might adhere. If we subtract all that we did not choose, we subtract the agent altogether. The more honest conclusion may be that our moral lives are irredeemably hostage to fortune, and that the demand for a luck-immune ethics is a beautiful fiction we cannot honour. To acknowledge this is not to abandon responsibility but to hold it more humbly, recognising that the line between the wicked and the merely unlucky is fainter, and more arbitrary, than our self-righteous verdicts presume.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

1級 · 読解 · 全5

1

Which statement best captures the central argument of the passage?

  • Philosophers have successfully isolated a pure kernel of agency that allows responsibility to be assigned free of luck.
  • Reckless driving should be punished more severely whenever it results in the death of a child rather than a mere near miss.
  • Our practices of moral judgement systematically depend on factors outside the agent's control, undermining the principle that we are accountable only for what we choose.
  • Moral responsibility is an illusion, so we should cease praising or blaming anyone for their conduct.
Phrase

This is the disquieting phenomenon that philosophers, following Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel, have termed moral luck.

1級読解主旨把握論旨
ひとことで

本文の核心は、統制外の要因が道徳的評価を左右し、「選んだことにのみ責任を負う」という原則を掘り崩す点にある。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

Our practices of moral judgement systematically depend on factors outside the agent's control, undermining the principle that we are accountable only for what we choose.

正解

筆者は二人の運転手の例を通じて、結果や性格・境遇といった統制外の要因が praise と blame を実際に左右していると論じる。これは「自発的に選んだことにのみ責任を負う」という道徳的原則と衝突し、その緊張(moral luck)が文章全体の主題である。よって統制外の要因が判断を支配し原則を掘り崩す、とする選択肢が主旨に最も合致する。

  • Reckless driving should be punished far more severely whenever it happens to result in the death of a child rather than in a mere near miss on the road.

    = 死亡事故では飲酒運転をより重く罰すべきだという規範的提案 ━ 本文は『より重く罰すべきだ』という規範を主張しているのではなく、なぜ実際にそう判断してしまうのかという逆説を分析している。運転手の例は論点の導入にすぎない。。

  • Philosophers have successfully isolated a pure kernel of agency that allows responsibility to be assigned free of luck.

    = 運を排した純粋な行為主体の核を哲学者が抽出できたとする主張 ━ 本文は第3段でこの『純粋核』戦略を提示するが、それは自己そのものを溶解させ失敗すると明確に退けており、成功とはしていない。。

  • Moral responsibility is an illusion, so we should cease praising or blaming anyone for their conduct.

    = 責任は幻想なので誰も賞賛も非難もすべきでないという主張 ━ 最終段で筆者は『責任を放棄するのではなく、より謙虚に保つ』と明言しており、責任の全否定は本文の結論と正反対である。。

Collocation
パターン意味
lie within one's control~の統制下にあるWe can be blamed only for what lies within our control.
confine X to YXをYに限定するIf we are serious about confining responsibility to the voluntary, we must reassess the cases.
hostage to fortune運命のなすがままThe argument concludes that our moral lives are hostage to fortune.
a swerve of chance偶然の一振れThe difference between them is nothing but a swerve of chance.
recolour the act行為そのものを塗り替えるThe outcome seems to reach back and recolour the act itself.
例文
  • The thesis of moral luck challenges a principle we treat as an axiom.

    モラル・ラックの主張は、我々が公理として扱う原則に異を唱える。

  • He was blamed for an outcome that lay wholly outside his control.

    彼は完全に自分の統制外にあった結果について非難された。

  • The court could not sustain such impartiality once a death had occurred.

    ひとたび死が絡むと、法廷はそのような公平さを保てなかった。

  • To hold responsibility humbly is not the same as abandoning it.

    責任を謙虚に保つことは、それを放棄することと同じではない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨問題では、具体例(運転手)や中間段階の立場(純粋核戦略)を全体の結論と取り違えないこと。筆者が『退ける』立場は主旨ではない。

2

According to the passage, why do we condemn the second driver more harshly than the first?

  • Because his reckless conduct happened to produce a fatal outcome, even though his negligence was no greater than the first driver's.
  • Because he deliberately intended to harm the child who ran into the road.
  • Because he failed to express the appropriate remorse after the incident occurred.
  • Because investigation reveals that his negligence was in fact far greater than the first driver's.
Phrase

through no greater negligence, strikes a child who darts into the road

1級読解詳細把握
ひとことで

二人の過失は同等だが、結果が致命的だったために第二の運転手がより厳しく裁かれる。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

Because his reckless conduct happened to produce a fatal outcome, even though his negligence was no greater than the first driver's.

正解

本文は二人を『equally reckless』とし、第二の運転手は『through no greater negligence』で子供をはねたと明記する。つまり過失の程度は同じで、違いは結果(死)という偶然だけである。したがって、より厳しい非難の根拠は過失ではなく致命的な結果に帰せられる。

  • Because a later investigation reveals that his negligence was in fact far greater than that of the first driver.

    = 調べると第二の運転手の過失の方が実は大きかった ━ 本文は明確に『equally reckless』『through no greater negligence』と述べており、過失の程度は等しいと否定されている。。

  • Because he deliberately intended to harm the child who ran into the road.

    = 子供を傷つけようと意図的に行動した ━ 運転手はどちらも reckless(無謀)であって故意ではなく、子供は『darts into the road』と突然飛び出したと描写されている。。

  • Because he failed to express the appropriate remorse after the incident occurred.

    = 事故後に適切な悔恨を示さなかったから ━ 本文は事故後の態度に一切言及しておらず、より重い非難の理由を反省の有無に求めていない。。

Collocation
パターン意味
through no greater negligenceそれ以上の過失なしにHe caused the death through no greater negligence than his companion.
equally reckless同程度に無謀なThe two drivers were equally reckless behind the wheel.
dart into the road道路に飛び出すA child may dart into the road without any warning.
arrive without incident無事に到着するThe first driver arrived home without incident.
condemn X harshlyXを厳しく断罪するWe tend to condemn the unlucky driver harshly.
例文
  • The two cases differed only in their outcome, not in their intent.

    二つの事例は意図ではなく結果においてのみ異なっていた。

  • Negligence of the same degree can attract wildly different verdicts.

    同程度の過失が、まるで異なる評決を招くことがある。

  • The pedestrian darted out, and the driver had no time to brake.

    歩行者が飛び出し、運転手には制動の時間がなかった。

  • One motorist arrived without incident; the other faced prosecution.

    一方の運転者は無事に着き、他方は訴追に直面した。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

詳細問題は本文の語句(equally reckless / no greater negligence)を根拠に断定する。常識的な憶測(故意・反省不足)で補わないこと。

3

What objection does the passage raise against the strategy of stripping away every 'contaminating accident' to find a luck-free kernel of agency?

  • Carried to its logical end, the strategy dissolves the very self it was meant to defend, leaving nothing to which praise or blame can attach.
  • It succeeds in theory but is impossible to apply in the practical context of criminal trials.
  • It wrongly assumes that consequences, rather than intentions, are the proper objects of judgement.
  • It is too demanding because no court would ever accept such a refined notion of intention.
Phrase

dissolves the very self it sought to vindicate

1級読解詳細把握
ひとことで

純粋核を求めると、守ろうとした自己そのものが溶解し、評価の付着先が消える。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

Carried to its logical end, the strategy dissolves the very self it was meant to defend, leaving nothing to which praise or blame can attach.

正解

第3段で筆者は、運に汚染されたものを剥ぎ取り続ける戦略は『dissolves the very self it sought to vindicate』と述べる。選ばなかったものをすべて差し引けば『we subtract the agent altogether』となり、credit も culpability も付着すべき主体が残らない。これがこの戦略への核心的な反論である。

  • It is too demanding because no court would ever accept such a refined notion of intention.

    = 裁判所がそのような洗練された意図概念を受け入れないから ━ 本文の反論は法廷の受容可能性ではなく、戦略が論理的に自己を消去してしまう点にある。法廷云々は別の箇所の話。。

  • It succeeds in theory but is impossible to apply in the practical context of criminal trials.

    = 理論上は成功するが刑事裁判の実務に適用できない ━ 本文は『理論上は成功する』とは認めておらず、論理を突き詰めると理論そのものが破綻すると述べている。。

  • It wrongly assumes that the consequences, rather than the intentions, must be the only proper objects of moral judgement.

    = 意図ではなく結果を判断対象とする点が誤りだという批判 ━ この戦略はむしろ意図(bare intention)を判断対象にしようとするもので、結果重視を前提にしてはいない。批判の方向が逆。。

Collocation
パターン意味
strip away XXを剥ぎ取るThey try to strip away every contaminating accident.
a luck-free kernel運を免れた核No luck-free kernel of agency survives the analysis.
dissolve the self自己を溶解させるPressed too far, the argument dissolves the self.
adhere to XXに付着するCulpability has nothing to which it might adhere.
subtract the agent行為主体を差し引くIf we subtract all we did not choose, we subtract the agent.
例文
  • The purifying move backfires, erasing the agent it aimed to rescue.

    その純化の試みは裏目に出て、救おうとした主体を消し去る。

  • Nothing substantial remains for blame to fasten upon.

    非難が掴むべき実体は何も残らない。

  • Removing all unchosen traits leaves only an empty point.

    選ばれなかった特徴をすべて除けば、空虚な点しか残らない。

  • A defence that abolishes the defendant defeats its own purpose.

    被告を消し去る弁護は、自らの目的を打ち砕く。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『反論』を問う問題では、本文が示す論理的帰結(self の溶解)を選ぶ。実務性や別論点へのすり替えに注意。

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