S01E01 The Moral Side of Murder/The Case for Cannibalism
If you had to choose between killing one person to save the lives of five others and doing nothing, even though you knew that five people would die right before your eyes if you did...
Justice
S01E09: Arguing Affirmative Action/What's The Purpose?
Students discuss the pros and cons of affirmative action. Should we try to correct for inequality in educational backgrounds by taking race into consideration? Should we compensate for historical injustices such as slavery and segregation? Is the argument in favor of promoting diversity a valid one? How does it size up against the argument that a student’s efforts and achievements should carry more weight than factors that are out of his or her control and therefore arbitrary? When a university’s stated mission is to increase diversity, is it a violation of rights to deny a white person admission? Sandel introduces Aristotle and his theory of justice. He believes that justice is about giving people their due, what they deserve.
Overview
Justice is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on public television. In this 12-part series, college professor Michael Sandel challenges us with hard moral dilemmas and invites us to ponder the right thing to do—in politics and in our everyday lives.
Episodes
S01E02 Putting a Price Tag on Life/How to Measure Pleasure
Sandel presents some contemporary cases in which cost-benefit analysis was used to put a dollar value on human life. The cases give rise to several objections to the utilitarian logic of seeking “the greatest good...
S01E03 Free to Choose/Who Owns Me?
Sandel introduces the libertarian notion that redistributive taxation—taxing the rich to give to the poor—is akin to forced labor. If you live in a society that has a system of progressive taxation, aren’t you obligated...
S01E04 The Land is My Land/Consenting Adults
The philosopher John Locke believes that individuals have certain rights—to life, liberty, and property—which were given to us as human beings in the “the state of nature,” a time before government and laws were created....
S01E05 Hired Guns?/For Sale: Motherhood
During the Civil War, men drafted into war had the option of hiring substitutes to fight in their place. Many students say they find that policy unjust, arguing that it is unfair to allow the...
S01E06 Mind Your Motive/The Supreme Principle of Morality
Professor Sandel introduces Immanuel Kant, a challenging but influential philosopher. Kant rejects the notion that morality is about calculating consequences. When we act out of duty—doing something simply because it is right—only then do our...
S01E07 A Lesson In Lying/A Deal Is A Deal
Immanuel Kant believed that telling a lie, even a white lie, is a violation of one’s own dignity. Sandel introduces the modern philosopher, John Rawls, who argues that a fair set of principles would be...
S01E08 What's A Fair Start?/What Do We Deserve?
Rawls argues that even meritocracy—a distributive system that rewards effort—doesn’t go far enough in leveling the playing field because those who are naturally gifted will always get ahead. Furthermore, says Rawls, the naturally gifted can’t...
S01E09 Arguing Affirmative Action/What's The Purpose?
Students discuss the pros and cons of affirmative action. Should we try to correct for inequality in educational backgrounds by taking race into consideration? Should we compensate for historical injustices such as slavery and segregation?...
S01E10 The Good Citizen/ Freedom Vs. Fit
Aristotle believes the purpose of politics is to promote and cultivate the virtue of its citizens. The telos or goal of the state and political community is the “good life”. And those citizens who contribute...
S01E11 The Claims Of Community/Where Our Loyaty Lies
Communitarians argue that, in addition to voluntary and universal duties, we also have obligations of membership, solidarity, and loyalty. These obligations are not necessarily based on consent. We inherit our past, and our identities, from...
S01E12 Debating Same-Sex Marriage/The Good Life
If principles of justice depend on the moral or intrinsic worth of the ends that rights serve, how should we deal with the fact that people hold different ideas and conceptions of what is good?...
Cast
Michael Sandel
Self
