Luck touches us all. "Why me?" we complain when things go wrong-though seldom when things go right. But although luck has a firm hold on all our lives, we seldom reflect on it in a cogent, concerted way.
In Luck, one of our most eminent philosophers offers a realistic view of the nature and operation of luck to help us come to sensible terms with life in a chaotic world. Differentiating luck from fate (inexorable destiny) and fortune (mere chance), Nicholas Rescher weaves a colorful tapestry of historical examples, from the use of lots in the Old and New Testaments to Thomas Gataker\u2019s treatise of 1619 on the great English lottery of 1612, from casino gambling to playing the stock market. Because we are creatures of limited knowledge who do and must make decisions in the light of incomplete information, Rescher argues, we are inevitably at the mercy of luck. It behooves us to learn more about it.
- ISBN10 0822957558
- ISBN13 9780822957553
- Publish Date 15 March 2001
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 14 June 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Pittsburgh Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 256
- Language English