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Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? |  | Author: Michael J. Sandel
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
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Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 3074
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0374180652
Dewey Decimal Number: 172.2
EAN: 9780374180652
ASIN: 0374180652
Publication Date: September 15, 2009
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Product Description
What are our obligations to others as people in a free society? Should government tax the rich to help the poor? Is the free market fair? Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth? Is killing sometimes morally required? Is it possible, or desirable, to legislate morality? Do individual rights and the common good conflict? Michael J. Sandel’s “Justice” course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. Up to a thousand students pack the campus theater to hear Sandel relate the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day, and this fall, public television will air a series based on the course. Justice offers readers the same exhilarating journey that captivates Harvard students. This book is a searching, lyrical exploration of the meaning of justice, one that invites readers of all political persuasions to consider familiar controversies in fresh and illuminating ways. Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, patriotism and dissent, the moral limits of markets—Sandel dramatizes the challenge of thinking through these con?icts, and shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well. Justice is lively, thought-provoking, and wise—an essential new addition to the small shelf of books that speak convincingly to the hard questions of our civic life. Michael J. Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1980, and the author of many books. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. Michael J. Sandel’s “Justice” course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. Up to a thousand students pack the campus theater to hear Sandel relate the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day. Justice offers readers the same journey that captivates Harvard students. This book is an exploration of the meaning of justice, one that invites readers of all political persuasions to consider familiar controversies in fresh and illuminating ways. What are our obligations to others as people in a free society? Should government tax the rich to help the poor? Is the free market fair? Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth? Is killing sometimes morally required? Is it possible, or desirable, to legislate morality? Do individual rights and the common good conflict? Justice is thought-provoking and wise—an essential work that speaks convincingly to the hard questions of our civic life.
Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, patriotism and dissent, the moral limits of markets—Sandel dramatizes the challenge of thinking through these conflicts, and shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well. “Michael J. Sandel is one of this generation’s most important philosophers because he combines a relentlessly inquiring spirit with a profound commitment to the idea of a common good. Justice is Sandel at his finest: no matter what your views are, his delightful style will draw you in, and he’ll then force you to rethink your assumptions and challenge you to question accepted ways of thinking. But Sandel does not leave you marooned on an island of skepticism. He calls us to a better way of doing politics, and a more enriching way of living our lives.”—E. J. Dionne, Jr. "Using examples drawn from recent experience, Sandel explores a variety of approaches to theories of justice. Sandel reviews the cold calculation of Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism (which asks which course of action will lead to the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people), to John Stuart Mill's more humane but more abstract approach to utilitarianism, with examples ranging from throwing Christians to the lions in Rome (hard on the Christian but served as entertainment for thousands and so arguably justifiable to utilitarians) to exploring the morality of torture in ticking-bomb scenarios (our former vice president will find this discussion of particular interest) . . . Sandel explores the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant (who explored the concept of duty as defining morality), John Rawls (who argued for a system of morality flowing from equality), and even Aristotle. But the ultimate aim here, appropriate to any college survey course, is to leave the reader with a range of different perspectives through which to view the world and the moral choices that we make. Sandel is at his best in weaving modern-day problems into convincing applications of competing theories of justice. He loses his footing, though, when he detours into the jargon of moral philosophy, at times testing a reader's patience (at least those not compelled to take notes or face end-of-semester consequences). But he concludes with a flourish: 'A just society can't be achieved simply by maximizing utility or by securing freedom of choice. To achieve a just society we have to reason together about the meaning of the good life, and to create a public culture hospitable to disagreements that will inevitably arise.' Quoting Robert F. Kennedy and President Obama, he argues that this approach to moral philosophy can and should have a real impact on our common good. For those seeking a short course through moral philosophy from a witty writer, fast on his feet, and nimble with his pen, this thin volume is difficult to beat."—Kevin J. Hamilton, The Seattle Times
“Reading Justice by Michael Sandel is an intoxicating invitation to take apart and examine how we arrive at our notions of right and wrong . . . Crisply written . . . A sly current of wit animates his new book and helps pry open our habitual ways of ordering the universe. Sandel plucks insights from the fiction of Ursula Le Guin and Kurt Vonnegut, and from a 13-year-old’s decision to disqualify himself at a national spelling bee. Then, with gusto and exactitude, Sandel plunks the grid of Western political philosophy atop knotty contemporary issues. He takes up affirmative action, say, or a town in India that, in 2002, began advertising surrogacy for sale to infertile Western women—and lets the reader think afresh about the rights and obligations we incure . . . This is enlivening stuff. Sandel is not looking to win an argument, he's looking at how a citizen might best engage the public realm . . . Justice invites readers toward a more capacious mind.”—Karen R. Long, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
"[Justice] is easily the most accessible primer on the topic now available. But Sandel aspires to do more than merely vulgarize the available positions in political theory and explore them through contemporary examples: he is calling, as he long has, for nothing less than a reinvigoration of citizenship . . . Sandel's book is organized as an excursion through three main theories of justice—one based on welfare, one on freedom and one on virtue—and like the best teachers, Sandel gives each theory its due."—Samuel Moyn, The Nation
"This book is absolutely indispensable for anyone who wants to be a good citizen. It shows how to balance competing values, a talent our nation desperately needs nowadays."—Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
“Michael J. Sandel is one of this generation’s most important philosophers because he combines a relentlessly inquiring spirit with a profound commitment to the idea of a common good. Justice is Sandel at his finest: no matter what your views are, his delightful style will draw you in, and he’ll then force you to rethink your assumptions and challenge you to question accepted ways of thinking. But Sandel does not leave you marooned on an island of skepticism. He calls us to a better way of doing politics, and a more enriching way of living our lives.”—E. J. Dionne, Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics
“Michael J. Sandel, political philosopher and public intellectual, is a liberal, but not the annoying sort. His aim is not to boss people around but to bring them around to the pleasures of thinking clearly about large questions of social policy. Reading this lucid book is like taking his famous undergraduate course `Justice’ without the tiresome parts, such as term papers and exams.”—George F. Will
"For nearly 30 years, Harvard professor Michael Sandel has taught a course entitled 'Moral Reasoning 22,' nicknamed 'Justice,' to a packed auditorium of more than 1,000 undergraduates. This stimulating volume, prepared in conjunction with a PBS series airing this fall and available online succeeds admirably in translating to a wider audience the challenging moral dilemmas he and his students confront and will help thoughtful readers focus their thinking about what a just society might look like while sharpening the vocabulary they call upon to express their views. At its heart, Sandel's book offers a broad and, for the most part, readily comprehensible survey of some of the major theories of justice. He rejects the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and its grounding of morality in the attempt to maximize the overall balance of pleasure over pain and is equally critical of the unbridled free market ideology of libertarianism. While more sympathetic to what he calls the 'liberal neutrality' of Immanuel Kant and his modern counterpart John Rawls, he likewise finds their ideas wanting. But Sandel is more t...
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 69
 The Best Book Ever for Practical Morality September 23, 2009
Herbert Gintis (Northampton, MA USA)
127 out of 140 found this review helpful
This book will not satisfy the elite of hair-splitting moral philosophers, but to my mind it is the best book I have ever seen explaining moral philosophy to neophytes. The examples come mostly from contemporary American social life and many are well-known in the literature. But many were new to me, and included some of the most morally conflictual issues I have ever encountered. I just cannot imagine a better way to present the content of modern moral philosophy to the world.
Michael Sandel is a quite famous political philosopher with a reputation for extreme adherence to a particular brand of community-oriented virtue theory that is critical of the two major traditions in moral philosophy---utilitarianism (Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Peter Singer) and deontology (Immanuel Kant, John Rawls). However, the reader will likely not discover this fact until the very end of the book, so even-handed and appreciative is Sandel of the alternative approaches. Indeed, the book is filled with the tension of a World Cup match, where the top players in the world are paraded before us in all their splendor, and where it is difficult to call any one a looser. This attitude contrasts sharply with the standard behavior of professional philosophers, who have hissy-fits when confronted with arguments with which they disagree (Sandel is capable of this as well, of course, but not in this elegant volume).
The most important thing the student learns from this book is that morality is for real, and leading a moral life is the highest goal to which we can aspire. I learned moral philosophy in an era dominated by the sort of analytical philosophy according to which moral statements are meaningless utterances, and moral behavior is irrational and constricting. At its best, I was taught that moral principles were an individual's private property, and were about as important as one's musical or artistic taste. For Sandel, morality is not an accoutrement of the genteel life, but is the source of all meaning in life, and he conveys this message to the reader without an ounce of preachiness or self-righteousness.
In his previous writings, Sandel has been a major critic of John Rawls's theory of justice, which has been the centerpiece of liberal democratic political philosophy for almost forty years. Rawls' embraces a Kantian ethic that extends the Categorical Imperative (do unto others...) in a way relevant to social policy and political philosophy. According to Rawls, we must erect social institutions using principles that we would individually be willing to accept if we were behind a "veil of ignorance" that prevented us from knowing what position we would hold in the resulting social order. He suggests two major principles. The first is the lexical priority of liberty, meaning that no social order has the right to constrain freedom in the name of some type of social engineering. The second is the principle that society should be organized so that the well-being of least well off is maximized. This leads to a radical egalitarianism in which the question of the justice of the distribution of wealth and income is the major moral issue in society. In particular, it leads to a hyper-individualism in which the moral principles of individuals is of no importance in their claim to a "just share" of the material wealth of society, and individuals are worthy of respect whatever they happen to choose as a way of life, provided they leave room for others to pursue their individual goals. Sandel rightly rejects this political philosophy on the grounds that by favoring "rights" over "the good," we necessarily degrade political democracy and republican virtues.
Sandel's alternative is to embrace a form of virtue ethics according to which the moral is what would be enacted by the virtuous individual, and we can tell what is virtuous by inspecting the character of human nature and the embeddedness of individuals in a close fabric of social life. The virtuous individual will "flourish" through acting in according with his or her highest nature, and immorality is a form of self-destruction brought on through ignorance or laziness.
The main thing missing from this book is an appreciation for the science of human morality. Humans make morality in the same sense that they make food, babies, art, music, and war. Sandel does not appear to realize that theories of morality should explain moral behavior, much as linguistics attempts to explain human verbal communication. Philosophers appear to have the idea that the philosophical "experts" have no more reason to study people's actual moral beliefs than physicists have to study folk-physics. This is a serious error, which leads philosophers to seek the "one true theory" from which all moral truths can be deduced. There is no "one true theory." All of the major branches of moral philosophy are represented in the everyday moralizing of people. Obligation, consideration of consequences, a sense of virtue, and even visceral feelings of cleanliness and propriety are all involved in how people make moral choices.
Because Sandel does not treat moral behavior as worthy of scientific study, he misses one major point about human morality: the strong underlying unity of moral sensibility across all societies and covering most social issues. The motivating force of Sandel's book is moral conflict, either in the form of an individual having to make choices that necessarily involve opting for the lesser evil (for instance, should soldiers kill an innocent shepherd to save the lives of nineteen patriotic soldiers, or should a living fetus be sacrificed to satisfy the preferences of the importuned mother), when in fact most major moral choices concern good versus evil, and what is considered good and evil is pretty much the same the world over. Everywhere, people cherish honesty, loyalty, hard-work, bravery, considerateness, trustworthiness, and charity. Similarly, everywhere people prefer insiders to outsiders, and take pleasure in hurting those who violate personal integrity or social rules. It is these moral values that have made humanity the imposing presence it has upon the planet, and if we are to survive into the future, it is these basic moral values, which are universal from small tribes of hunter-gathers to the vast populations of advanced technological society, that will provide the energy for the tasks that lie ahead of us.
Uses Reason to Confront America's Aristocracy September 25, 2009
Citizen John (USA)
38 out of 43 found this review helpful
Michael Sandel is a political philosopher, Harvard professor and perhaps National Treasure. His concern is achieving a just society and introducing notions about virtue and moral reflection into political debates. His philosophy lectures merited a 12-part TV series on PBS, but something quite serious seems to be in the works.
Forget about the tedium of philosophy classes - memorizing arguments of great philosophers and reproducing them in exams. This is different. If Sandel continues to gain access to the country through the national media, he might do for us what Socrates did for the ancient Greeks. He might succeed in making moral reflection a public endeavor, not a solitary activity. To him, a philosopher can be an interlocutor for the people. He and his students (disciples?) might shame our politicians into doing the right thing more often.
Justice, read by the author, starts out in a friendly manner with its first case being the price gouging for necessities in the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie. At the time, newspapers were filled with editorials on how price gauging is not wrong since there's no "just price" and supply and demand should be allowed free reign. Yet buyers in emergencies are under duress and thus not truly free. That's why we feel a sense of outrage. We learn that we share principles tracing back to famous dead philosophers.
By the middle of this audiobook, Sandel cuts close to the bone and you can see now why politicians would like to confine him to the lecture hall. He shows us that justice is inescapably judgmental and that today's political arguments are about anything but virtue. He wants philosophy to be used on economics, not just on matters of abortion and gay marriage. Sandel demonstrates that the growing inequality in the U.S. undermines the solidarity that a democracy requires.
Sandel points to the hollowing out of the public realm on which a democratic society depends. As public services decline and decline, as we let our common spaces for all but wealthy Americans deteriorate, we undermine our shared democratic citizenship.
Common spaces accessible by our democracy include public transportation, parks, schools, hospitals and health clinics, libraries, the news media and more. Much of the rest of public life has become overly market-based. We privatize prisons and contemplate a system of monetary rewards for teachers whose students achieve higher scores on state assessments. We've allowed a terrific gap in military service with a smaller percentage of our public officials having children in the military and serving in the wars than ever before. We load heavy burdens onto families of our troops without mercy. We gave tax cuts to the rich in time of war and were advised to go shopping. In all this, Sandel explains the schools of philosophical thought that provided the principles we adopted.
Sandel contrasts ancient theories of justice, concerned with virtue, with modern theories concerned with freedom. Yet we share beliefs about virtue. We just don't apply them to economics and politics as he advises. Our society has deep currents of moral convictions. Many of us were appalled that those on Wall Street didn't take responsibility or show some contrition for their actions that caused so much pain to Main Street. [...] These are issues that Sandel discusses. While popular with students, he's a scourge to those vested in the status quo.
Uses Reason to Confront America's Aristocracy September 25, 2009
Citizen John (USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Michael Sandel is a political philosopher, Harvard professor and perhaps National Treasure. His concern is achieving a just society and introducing notions about virtue and moral reflection into political debates. His philosophy lectures merited a 12-part TV series on PBS, but something quite serious seems to be in the works. I listened to the audiobook and have linked it below.
Forget about the tedium of philosophy classes - memorizing arguments of great philosophers and reproducing them in exams. This is different. If Sandel continues to gain access to the country through the national media, he might do for us what Socrates did for the ancient Greeks. He might succeed in making moral reflection a public endeavor, not a solitary activity. To him, a philosopher can be an interlocutor for the people. He and his students (disciples?) might shame our politicians into doing the right thing more often.
Justice starts out in a friendly manner with its first case being the price gouging for necessities in the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie. At the time, newspapers were filled with editorials on how price gouging is not wrong since there's no "just price" and supply and demand should be allowed free reign. Yet buyers in emergencies are under duress and thus not truly free. That's why we feel a sense of outrage. We learn that we share principles tracing back to famous dead philosophers.
By mid-book, Sandel cuts close to the bone and you can see now why politicians would want him confined to the lecture hall. He shows us that justice is inescapably judgmental and that today's political arguments are about anything but virtue. He wants philosophy to be used on economics, not just on matters of abortion and gay marriage. Sandel demonstrates that the growing inequality in the U.S. undermines the solidarity that a democracy requires.
Sandel points to the hollowing out of the public realm on which a democratic society depends. As public services decline and decline, as we let our common spaces for all but wealthy Americans deteriorate, we undermine our shared democratic citizenship.
Common spaces accessible by our democracy include public transportation, parks, schools, hospitals and health clinics, libraries, the news media and more. Much of public life has become overly market-based. We privatize prisons and contemplate a system of monetary rewards for teachers whose students achieve higher scores on state assessments. We've allowed a terrific gap in military service with a smaller percentage of our public officials having children in the military and serving in the wars than ever before. We load heavy burdens onto families of our troops without mercy. We gave tax cuts to the rich in time of war and were advised to go shopping. In all this, Sandel explains the schools of philosophical thought that provided the principles we adopted.
Sandel contrasts ancient theories of justice, concerned with virtue, with modern theories concerned with freedom. Yet we share beliefs about virtue. We just don't apply them to economics and politics as he advises. Our society has deep currents of moral convictions. Many of us were appalled that those on Wall Street didn't take responsibility or show some contrition for their actions that caused so much pain to Main Street. These are issues that Sandel discusses. While popular with students, he's a scourge to those vested in the status quo.
Link to audiobook which I listened to: Justice. I am partial to the audiobook because I would like to listen to it several more times over the next few years.
Well Balanced Lessons on Justice and Morality October 7, 2009
Myra Schjelderup (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Some time ago I read parts of Sandel's Justice: A Reader for a class, and I enjoyed the collection. Therefor I was happy to see that he'd written a book. I got it on CD so I could listen to it in the car to and from work, get my little grey cells working.
He covers several moral philosophies, including utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and laissez-faire, to name a few.
I was happy with the variety of views. It was fascinating to learn the different ways morality was defined in each of the systems covered. To illustrate points and teach the systems better Sandel introduces moral puzzles, some of which you might be familiar with, like the hungry men on the lifeboat. I liked how he gives you the moral puzzle, shows you the moral questions involved, then changes the story slightly and asks you the same question again. It really helps you understand your morals personally, as well as understanding what the morals of others might be.
The first 3 discs (of 5) actually cover morality, rather than justice, which makes sense, since morals strongly influence justice and people's perception of justice. Something can be morally wrong but just or morally right but unjust. Like most elements of philosophy, it can get confusing, bringing you to the point where you just want to know what the answers are!!! But of course there aren't any easy answers. There is no universal answer. Utilitarians and Libertarians and Kant and Rawls might look at the same situation and not all see it as just. Such as the case of throwing Christians to the lions; which, under Utilitarian philosophy, is ok because it gives greater utility to the people enjoying the spectacle (who outnumber the Christians being slaughtered). A Libertarian would say 'forget the masses, the individual is more important'.
All in all, I highly recommend this book, and I'll probably listen to it twice so I can absorb all the knowledge. As well as giving you interesting puzzles to work out and think about, it's a good lesson on the philosophies that are all still popular today.
Well Thought Out and Engaging October 8, 2009
Dream's Raven (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Justice is a very difficult concept, but Sandel breaks the concept down and makes it very accessible for the layman in this audiobook. In it, he looks at different approaches to justice and ethics, including utilitarianism, libertarianism, Kantian liberalism, and Aristotle's teleological approach. He examines their applications to various contemporary issues, including the selling of organs, wellfare, the rights of people with disabilities, affirmative action, and many others. In the end, he calls for greater civic engagement on issues of morals and justice, and his case for it is very strong. Whether one agrees with him or not, this book gives the reader/listener much to chew on and help in articulating his or her own views.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 69
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