Types and Conditions of Moral Order

Is the world morally ordered? Do good things come to those who act well and bad things to those who act badly? Do the virtuous thrive and the wicked suffer? I will not -- you'll be disappointed to hear -- actually answer this question in this post. Instead, I'll discuss the structure of several possible answers, so that we can better think about how to think about thinking about the question. (Added in revision: Okay, I couldn't resist concluding with a guess, but that guess isn't the point.) The Shape of the Curve Here's a coarse cut of the possibilities: Moral order: Those who act morally well tend to do better overall than the morally mediocre, who in turn tend to do better than those who act badly. The relationship is monotonic: Increasing your moral goodness tends to have good consequences for you in the long run. Moral disorder: There is no relationship between moral goodness and personal good consequences. The virtuous and the wicked are equally likely to thrive or suffer.…