Justice
What's the Right Thing to Do?
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Michael Sandel's Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? invites readers of all ages and political persuasions on a journey of moral reflection, and shows how reasoned debate can illuminate our lives.
Is it always wrong to lie?
Should there be limits to personal freedom?
Can killing sometimes be justified?
Is the free market fair?
What is the right thing to do?
Questions like these are at the heart of our lives. In this acclaimed book Michael Sandel - BBC Reith Lecturer and the Harvard professor whose 'Justice' course has become world famous - gives us a lively and accessible introduction to the intersection of politics and philosophy. He helps us think our way through such hotly contested issues as equal rights, democracy, euthanasia, abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as the ethical dilemmas we face every day.
'One of the most popular teachers in the world' - Observer
'Enormously refreshing ... Michael Sandel transforms moral philosophy by putting it at the heart of civic debate' - New Statesman
'One of the world's most interesting political philosophers' - Guardian
'Spellbinding' - The Nation
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Harvard government professor Sandel (Public Philosophy) dazzles in this sweeping survey of hot topics the recent government bailouts, the draft, surrogate pregnancies, same-sex marriage, immigration reform and reparations for slavery that situates various sides in the debates in the context of timeless philosophical questions and movements. Sandel takes utilitarianism, Kant's categorical imperative and Rawls's theory of justice out of the classroom, dusts them off and reveals how crucial these theories have been in the construction of Western societies and how they inform almost every issue at the center of our modern-day polis. The content is dense but elegantly presented, and Sandel has a rare gift for making complex issues comprehensible, even entertaining (see his sections entitled "Shakespeare versus the Simpsons and "What Ethics Can Learn from Jack Benny and Miss Manners"), without compromising their gravity. With exegeses of Winnie the Pooh, transcripts of Bill Clinton's impeachment hearing and the works of almost every major political philosopher, Sandel reveals how even our most knee-jerk responses bespeak our personal conceptions of the rights and obligations of the individual and society at large. Erudite, conversational and deeply humane, this is truly transformative reading.
