Michael J. Sandel (/sænˈdɛl/; born March 5, 1953) is an American political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. He is best known for the Harvard course "Justice" and for his critique of John Rawls' A Theory of Justice in his first book, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002. Sandel has taught the famous "Justice"[3] course at Harvard for two decades. More than 15,000 students have taken the course, making it one of the most highly attended in Harvard's history. The fall 2007 class was the largest ever at Harvard, with a total of 1,115 students.[4] The fall 2005 course was recorded, and is offered online for students through the Harvard Extension School. An abridged form of this recording is now a 12-episode TV series, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, in a co-production of WGBH and Harvard University. Episodes are available on the Justice with Michael Sandel website.[5][6] There is also an accompanying book, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? and the sourcebook of readings Justice: A Reader. The popularity of the show is attributed to the discussion-oriented format (the Socratic method)—rather than recitation and memorization of facts—and to Sandel's engaging style, incorporating context into discussion; for example, he starts one lecture with a discussion of the ethics of ticket scalping.[7] The BBC broadcast eight 30-minute segments from the series on BBC Four starting on 25 January 2011.[8] In April 2012, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a three-part series presented by Professor Sandel titled The Public Philosopher.[9] These followed a format similar to the Justice lectures, this time recorded in front of an audience at the London School of Economics. Across three programs, Sandel debates with the audience whether universities should give preference to students from poorer backgrounds, whether a nurse should be paid more than a banker, and whether it is right to bribe people to be healthy. The programmes were made available for download via the BBC podcast Michael Sandel: The Public Philosopher. Sandel is the author of several publications, including Democracy's Discontent and Public Philosophy. Public Philosophy is a collection of his own previously published essays examining the role of morality and justice in American political life. He offers a commentary on the roles of moral values and civic community in the American electoral process—a much-debated aspect of the 2004 U.S. election cycle and of current political discussion. Michael Sandel gave the 2009 Reith Lectures on "A New Citizenship" on BBC Radio, addressing the 'prospect for a new politics of the common good'.[14] The lectures were delivered in London on May 18, Oxford on May 21, Newcastle on May 26, and Washington, D.C., in early June, 2009.[15] He is also the author of the book What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets (2012), which argues some desirable things - such as body organs and the right to kill endangered species - should not be traded for cash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Sandel

• published: 13 Mar 2016
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