Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do?

Author: Michael J. Sandel

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General Fields

  • : $31.00 NZD
  • : 9780141041339
  • : Penguin Books, Limited
  • : Penguin Books Ltd
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  • : February 2010
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 31.0
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  • : books

Special Fields

  • :
  • :
  • : Michael J. Sandel
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  • : Paperback
  • : 510
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  • : English
  • : 172/.2
  • :
  • : 320
  • : HPX
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Barcode 9780141041339
9780141041339

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?


These questions are at the core of our public life today--and at the heart of Justice, in which Michael J. Sandel shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us to make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well.


Sandel's legendary 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. In the fall of 2009, PBS will air a series based on the course.


Justice offers listeners the same exhilarating journey that captivates Harvard students--the challenge of thinking our way through the hard moral challenges we confront as citizens. It is a searching, lyrical exploration of the meaning of justice, an audiobook 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, the moral limits of markets, patriotism and dissent--Sandel shows how even the most hotly contested issues can be illuminated by reasoned moral argument.


Justice is lively, thought-provoking, and wise--an essential new addition to the small shelf of books that speak convincingly to the big questions of our civic life.

Reviews

One of the world's most interesting political philosophers Guardian An ambitious and an appealing idea. Intriguingly, I find myself persuaded that it might well be worth a try Lisa Jardine, The Times Justice is a lucid and compelling analysis of our current moral dilemmas, which argues for a new commitment to citizenship and the common good Shirley Williams Sandel dazzles in this sweeping survey of hot topics ... Erudite, conversational and deeply humane, this is truly transformative reading Publishers Weekly In the beautifully concise explanations of American philosopher Michael Sandel, I see great insight into our current predicaments. If any political reckoning is on its way ... then perhaps it might come from the philosophy department of Harvard Madeleine Bunting

Author description

Michael Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at the University of Harvard. Sandel's legendary 'Justice' course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. In 2007, Harvard made Sandel's course available to alumni around the world through webstreaming and podcasting. Over 5,000 participants signed up, and Harvard Clubs from Mexico to Australia organized local discussion groups in connection with the course. In May 2007, Sandel delivered a series of lectures at major universities in China and he has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, Paris. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. Sandel is the author of many books and has previously written for the Atlantic Monthly, the New Republic and the New York Times. He was the 2009 BBC Reith Lecturer.