Michael J. Sandel

"For Michael Sandel, justice is not a spectator sport," The Nation's reviewer of Justice remarked. In his acclaimed book―based on his legendary Harvard course―Sandel offers a rare education in thinking through the complicated issues and controversies we face in public life today. It has emerged as a most lucid and engaging guide for those who yearn for a more robust and thoughtful public discourse. "In terms we can all understand," wrote Jonathan Rauch in The New York Times, Justice "confronts us with the concepts that lurk . . . beneath our conflicts."Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, the moral limits of markets―Sandel relates the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day, 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.

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fuelled populist protest, with the triumph of Brexit and election of Donald Trump.Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the polarized politics of our time, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalisation and rising inequality. Sandel highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success - more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility, and more hospitable to a politics of the common good.

Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we allow corporations to pay for the right to pollute the atmosphere? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars? Auctioning admission to elite universities? Selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay?In What Money Can’t Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don’t belong? What are the moral limits of markets?In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. Is this where we want to be?In his New York Times bestseller Justice, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Can’t Buy, he provokes an essential discussion that we, in our market-driven age, need to have: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society—and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets don’t honor and that money can’t buy?

Listen to a short interview with Michael SandelHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature--to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. What is wrong with re-engineering our nature? The Case against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda. In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable. Addressing them is the task of this book, by one of America's preeminent moral and political thinkers.

The defect, Sandel maintains, lies in the impoverished vision of citizenship and community shared by Democrats and Republicans alike. American politics has lost its civic voice, leaving both liberals and conservatives unable to inspire the sense of community and civic engagement that self-government requires.In search of a public philosophy adequate to our time, Sandel ranges across the American political experience, recalling the arguments of Jefferson and Hamilton, Lincoln and Douglas, Holmes and Brandeis, FDR and Reagan. He relates epic debates over slavery and industrial capitalism to contemporary controversies over the welfare state, religion, abortion, gay rights, and hate speech. Democracy's Discontent provides a new interpretation of the American political and constitutional tradition that offers hope of rejuvenating our civic life.

A liberal society seeks not to impose a single way of life, but to leave its citizens as free as possible to choose their own values and ends. It therefore must govern by principles of justice that do not presuppose any particular vision of the good life. But can any such principles be found? And if not, what are the consequences for justice as a moral and political ideal? These are the questions Michael Sandel takes up in this penetrating critique of contemporary liberalism. This new edition includes a new introduction and a new final chapter in which Professor Sandel responds to the later work of John Rawls.

Michael Sandel’s Harvard course, “Justice,” is very popular and influential. In it, Sandel explores big questions about what’s right and wrong, and how we should live together. The course looks at different ideas about justice, like utilitarianism (the idea of maximizing happiness), libertarianism (the idea of maximizing freedom), Kantian ethics (following moral rules), and Rawlsian justice (fairness in society). The course is known for its engaging style. Sandel invites students to debate and discuss tough issues, making complex ideas about ethics and morality easier to understand. The lectures are available online for free, which has attracted people from all over the world. For more read the book.

Justiç O que é fazer a coisa certa

Os três mais importantes livros do filósofo Michael J. Sandel, autor de Justiç o que é fazer a coisa certa, em um box exclusivo. As questões mais relevantes da atualidade e as polêmicas mais delicadas não escapam a Michael J. Sandel, fi­lósofo, professor de Harvard e autor best-seller. Em seus três mais importantes livros – Justiça, O que o dinheiro não compra e A tirania do mérito – reunidos neste box, o autor aborda os embaraços éticos e as implicações políticas, dos pequenos atos até as grandes questões sociais. Esta é uma breve coleção que se revela essencial para todos que se importam em saber como podemos viver melhor individual e coletivamente.Em Justiç o que é fazer a coisa certa, Sandel apresenta diferentes concepções filosóficas para tratar de grandes problemas éticos e também de assuntos cotidianos. Inspirado no curso Justice, oferecido pelo autor na Universidade de Harvard e um grande sucesso mundo afora, este livro, que é seu maior best-seller, é um convite a leitores e leitoras de todas as doutrinas políticas para que considerem, de maneira nova controvérsias que lhes são familiares.Em O que o dinheiro não os limites morais do mercado, Sandel questiona sob quais circunstâncias o mercado faz sentido e em quais deveria ser regulado com maior rigor, tendo em vista que atualmente quase tudo é mercadoria — de filas de espera a transfusão de órgãos humanos. Com casos reais e provocadores, o autor argumenta que a lógica do “quem pode pagar leva” corrói valores como justiça, solidariedade e dignidade. E alerta sobre os perigos que corre uma sociedade na qual o dinheiro dita até o que deveria ser inquestionavelmente humano.Em A tirania do mé o que aconteceu com o bem comum?, Sandel critica a ideia de que o sucesso é apenas fruto do esforço individual. O autor argumenta que a meritocracia, em vez de promover justiça, alimenta desigualdades e a arrogância dos vencedores enquanto humilha os perdedores. Com exemplos que vão desde a educação até o mercado de trabalho, Sandel questiona se o merecimento é uma ilusão forjada em prol da divisão social. “Erudito, acessível e profundamente humano, este é um livro transformador.” – Publishers Weekly, sobre Justiça“As ideias de Aristóteles, Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Robert Nozick e John Rawls raramente foram tão acessíveis – se é que já o foram (...). Em termos que todos podemos entender, Justiça nos confronta com conceitos que estão, muitas vezes sem percebermos, por trás dos nossos conflitos.” – The New York Times, sobre Justiça“Justiça é um convite oportuno para renunciarmos a disputas políticas e avaliarmos se somos capazes de ter uma discussão sensata sobre em que tipo de sociedade realmente queremos viver.