--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The risk pertinent to a particular…" description: "\"The risk pertinent to a particular attempt (and to its evaluation as an attempt of its sort) is the risk that the agent will fail to attain the end con..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/ernest-sosa-12656_agents_the-risk-pertinent-to-a-particular-attem_1310424.jpg" --- # The risk pertinent to a particular attempt (and to its… ![“The risk pertinent to a particular attempt (and to its evaluation as an attempt of its sort) is the risk that the agent will fail to attain the end constitutive of that attempt. This risk of failure is coordinate with how likely or unlikely it may be that the agent will then succeed.” quote by Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/ernest-sosa-12656_agents_the-risk-pertinent-to-a-particular-attem_1310424.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/ernest-sosa-12656_agents_the-risk-pertinent-to-a-particular-attem_1310424.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/ernest-sosa-12656_agents_the-risk-pertinent-to-a-particular-attem_1310424.jpg) > “The risk pertinent to a particular attempt (and to its evaluation as an attempt of its sort) is the risk that the agent will fail to attain the end constitutive of that attempt. This risk of failure is coordinate with how likely or unlikely it may be that the agent will then succeed.” [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The chance of failing a specific goal is tied to how likely success is afterward; risk and success are linked. **In simple terms:** Failure risk depends on success likelihood. Key Takeaway Assess risk and success together. Themes risk evaluation goal success Mood analytical cautious Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - project planning - investment decisions - policy analysis - personal goals Key Concepts probability outcome agent intention decision making philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does perceived success probability alter risk perception? - When should we accept higher risk? A Different Perspective Risk assessment may ignore external factors affecting success. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agents/) [Attempt Evaluation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempt-evaluation-4334057/) [Attempt Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempt-risk-4334055/) [Constitutive Attempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitutive-attempt-4334056/) [Coordinates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coordinates/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Evaluation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evaluation/) [Failing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failing/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particular/) [Pertinent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pertinent/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Risk Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk-failure/) [Risk Pertinent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk-pertinent-4334054/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Unlikely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unlikely/) ## Related quotes > [Let the attempt be made, at whatever risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/let-the-attempt-be-made-at-whatever-risk/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [When the risk of failure is too high, the right choice is to forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-the-risk-of-failure-is-too-high-the-right-choice-is-to-forbear/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish anything. All creative acts involve the risk of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/if-we-are-not-willing-to-fail-we-will-never-accomplish-anything-all/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [The man who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/the-man-who-is-afraid-to-risk-failure-seldom-has-to-face-success/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [Do not be one of those who, rather than risk failure, never attempts anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/do-not-be-one-of-those-who-rather-than-risk-failure-never-attempts/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [You have to risk failure to succeed. The important thing is not to make one single mistake that will jeopardize the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-have-to-risk-failure-to-succeed-the-important-thing-is-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You cannot achieve success without the risk of failure...You cannot achieve success if you FEAR failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-heyman/you-cannot-achieve-success-without-the-risk-of-failure-you-cannot/) [Paul Heyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-heyman/) > [“If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.B”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-don-t-succeed-we-run-the-risk-of-failure-b/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“OUR LIVES ARE MADE OF RISKS AND REWARDS. OUR ENDEAVOURS, LOVES, AND HOPES ARE ALL PRONE TO THE GREAT RISK OF FAILURE. YET TO…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-t-barnes/our-lives-are-made-of-risks-and-rewards-our-endeavours-loves-and/) [Mark T. Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-t-barnes/) > [Trusting others puts us at risk. Yet failure to trust entails risk as well. The ability to navigate through this minefield successfully is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-frank/trusting-others-puts-us-at-risk-yet-failure-to-trust-entails-risk-as/) [Robert H. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-frank/) > [“The ability to overcome failure—to live through it and move on—is crucial. If we are not willing to face failure—if we don't have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hunter/the-ability-to-overcome-failure-to-live-through-it-and-move-on-is/) [John Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hunter/) > [The hardest things to do in any art is to risk failure and put yourself out on the line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-isaac/the-hardest-things-to-do-in-any-art-is-to-risk-failure-and-put/) [Oscar Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-isaac/) > [The only risk of failure is promotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/the-only-risk-of-failure-is-promotion/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [The risk of failure is part of the fun of what I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/the-risk-of-failure-is-part-of-the-fun-of-what-i-do/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [The 'Amazing' can only be created by facing fear, risk and failure during the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-brown/the-amazing-can-only-be-created-by-facing-fear-risk-and-failure/) [Joel Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-brown/) ## More by Ernest Sosa > [Philosophers need not much use the word 'intuition' or the concept of intuition, except when they happen to be working on the epistemology of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/philosophers-need-not-much-use-the-word-intuition-or-the-concept-of/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [When you dream, your perceptual (and other) competence is affected. You are then unable to get it right competently with the beliefs in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-you-dream-your-perceptual-and-other-competence-is-affected-you/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Ultimately, my more significant agreement is with a virtue tradition that features Aristotle and Descartes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/ultimately-my-more-significant-agreement-is-with-a-virtue-tradition/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [It is bad to want something that not even God could attain, especially when the impossibility becomes obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-bad-to-want-something-that-not-even-god-could-attain-especially/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [I am mainly concerned with unqualified knowledge, by contrast with the varieties of expert knowledge: scientific knowledge of various sorts, legal knowledge, medically expert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/i-am-mainly-concerned-with-unqualified-knowledge-by-contrast-with-the/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If a shot aimed at aptness succeeds aptly, it is then fully apt, since it is not only apt but also aptly apt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/if-a-shot-aimed-at-aptness-succeeds-aptly-it-is-then-fully-apt-since/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [It is also certain that when we assent to some piece of reasoning when our perception of it is lacking, then either we go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-also-certain-that-when-we-assent-to-some-piece-of-reasoning/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We need some standard that will determine how likely a belief is to be true given just that it is stored in one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-need-some-standard-that-will-determine-how-likely-a-belief-is-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Descartes's epistemology is a special case of Aristotle's virtue ethics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/descartes-s-epistemology-is-a-special-case-of-aristotle-s-virtue/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [There isn't a formal definition of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/there-isn-t-a-formal-definition-of-success/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/success-is-better-than-failure-an-attempt-is-a-better-attempt-it-is/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Judgment is affirmation with the intention to thereby affirm competently enough, and indeed aptly. That distinguishes judgments from mere guesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/judgment-is-affirmation-with-the-intention-to-thereby-affirm/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Given its more substantial aim, a judgment is apt only if its constitutive alethic affirmation is not only apt but aptly apt. The subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/given-its-more-substantial-aim-a-judgment-is-apt-only-if-its/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) [Explore all 54 Ernest Sosa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## More Agents quotes > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I don't see \[ Trainspotting \] as an albatross, I see it more as a calling card. It's got me out to Hollywood, I've… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-don-t-see-trainspotting-as-an-albatross-i-see-it-more-as-a-calling/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Our attitude towards evil must be freed from hatred, and has itself need to be enlightened in character...Satan rejoices when he succeeds in inspiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/our-attitude-towards-evil-must-be-freed-from-hatred-and-has-itself/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) > [We are coming to a place where the road ends. From here on out, we will be making the road as we walk it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-atlee/we-are-coming-to-a-place-where-the-road-ends-from-here-on-out-we-will/) [Tom Atlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-atlee/) > [Love is the supreme form of communication. In the hierarchy of needs, love stands as the supreme developing agent of the humanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/love-is-the-supreme-form-of-communication-in-the-hierarchy-of-needs/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [I have always believed that women are not victims, we are agents of change, we are drivers of progress, we are makers of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-have-always-believed-that-women-are-not-victims-we-are-agents-of/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Many American TV actors employ agents, managers, business managers, publicists and stylists, and are now adding digital media manager to the list. Their job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-bellman/many-american-tv-actors-employ-agents-managers-business-managers/) [Gina Bellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-bellman/) > [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My first job was a film called 'Storm Damage' for the BBC. I was 16 and working with really respected British actors. I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-madekwe/my-first-job-was-a-film-called-storm-damage-for-the-bbc-i-was-16-and/) [Ashley Madekwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-madekwe/) > [Government is the agent of those who are too refined to do their own mugging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/government-is-the-agent-of-those-who-are-too-refined-to-do-their-own/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [While much of modern behavioral and social science treats individuals as autonomous agents, it is absolutely clear that the way we think and act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-r-nelson/while-much-of-modern-behavioral-and-social-science-treats-individuals/) [Richard R. 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If you’re a good writer, you’re a good writer.” And if not, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-gessen/honestly-he-says-i-judge-writers-on-how-they-write-queries-if-you-re/) [Keith Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-gessen/) [Browse all 1,567 Agents quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agents/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The risk pertinent to a particular attempt (and to its evaluation as an attempt of its sort) is the risk that the agent will fail to attain the end constitutive of that attempt. 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