Abstract. This paper introduces reflection on the concept of vindication in ethical life. It distinguishes vindication from justification and asks how the reflective stances towards our ethical agency that they institute differ. It argues that these reflective stances, and the forms of accounting that each institutes are importantly distinct but also necessary elements of any ethical outlook, and ones that can be related to one another in more than one way. It concludes by relating this argument to themes from the ‘morality critics’, especially those of meaning in life and moral luck raised by Susan Wolf and Bernard Williams.
Keywords: vindication, justification, moral luck, meaning in life, challenge, pride, joy.
