Tempting Fate
A Philosophical Guide to Risk, Luck, and a Meaningful Life
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected 25 Aug 2026
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- 23,99 €
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- Pre-Order
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- 23,99 €
Publisher Description
A leading philosopher explains how risk-taking can help us live authentic and flourishing lives
We take risks every day—perhaps not the extreme, dangling-off-the-side-of-a-mountain kind of risks, but risks nonetheless, in decisions about careers, marriage, children, moving house, and other matters. Tempting fate is simply what we have to do from time to time in life. But how we should go about tempting fate in a reasonable way? In this illuminating book, philosopher Duncan Pritchard explains why risk-taking, even extreme risk-taking, can sometimes be both reasonable and admirable, and how it can play a crucial role in living an authentic life.
Using Alex Honnold’s famous free solo climb of El Capitan as a paradigm example of admirable risk-taking, Pritchard offers a completely new theory of risk, one that explains it in terms of fragility rather than probability. He shows how fragility can explain why skill and preparation are crucial to sensible risk-taking, even when the activity is unavoidably high risk. Fragility also makes clear that taking risks means riding one’s luck and why both risk and luck are vital to living an authentic and meaningful existence. Pritchard shows that his fragility theory of risk has practical implications for making sense of risk in law, arts, sports, and other domains. Tempting fate, in other words, is not merely thrill-seeking but essential for human flourishing.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philosopher Pritchard (Epistemic Angst) argues in this illuminating study that living a fulfilling life means judiciously assessing risk. Probabilistic theory of risk—the appraisal of risk based only on the likelihood of an adverse outcome—has long dominated academic discussion of the subject, he writes. Yet it fails to explain why acts perceived as dangerous are often admired, such as Alex Honnold's 2018 free solo climb of El Capitan. Pritchard solves this puzzle with the fragility theory of risk, where fragility—how easily a risk event associated with a certain activity could occur—is separate from its probability of occurring. That means experienced climbers like Honnold, despite engaging in an inherently high-risk activity, significantly lower the likelihood of death or injury by accruing extensive skills, practice, and knowledge. This leads Pritchard to a theory of "responsible risk taking" that accounts for a person's skills and experience, and sees intrinsic value in taking risks that reflect one's core values and contribute to a sense of personal meaning. Those need not rise to the level of Honnold's climb, but might include immigrating to a new country or abandoning a stable job for a more meaningful but volatile career. Pritchard's theory is thorough and thought-provoking, with intriguing implications on everything from breakups to "existential" events like nuclear war. Readers will be edified and inspired.
