Justice

By: Michael J. Sandel

Narrated by: Michael J. Sandel

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 listeners 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 collection of works that speak convincingly to the big questions of our civic life.

©2009 Michael J. Sandel (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"This outstanding collection successfully blends historical and contemporary thought, on issues of theoretical and practical importance, to illuminate the main problems of justice. It is accessible to undergraduates in philosophy, with breadth and depth enough to engage the experienced philosophical reader hoping to rethink some central debates." (Michele Moody-Adams, Director and Hutchinson Professor of Ethics and Public Life, Cornell University)

Dated, yet still relevant in 2023.

An additional chapter should be added by the author in order to address the Trump era.

It’ll make you less dumb

Fantastic book for people who think. It’ll make you a better person. This has a fifteen word minimum and these are words.

Excellent!

Professor Sandel sure knows how to provoke thought. Ponder the great moral issues of our time with one of the most captivating and humane tour guides around. Interested in issues such as affirmative action, capitalism, utilitarianism, gay marriage, virtue ethics, price gouging, aristotle, citizenship, or rawls? Then read on, you will not be disappointed.

Everyone should read this book.

An excellent introduction to Western philosophy. Excellent, if somewhat abrupt, conclusion. Good narration by author.

Justice by Micheal Sandel

He has a firm grasp on moral philosophy. Thumbs up on this one. Great book.

The Groundwork is just the beginning.

Well done. I think Kant has a lot more to say about practical reason and virtue than just in the Groundwork, so I'm not entirely convinced.

S

Had to read it for university and liked it a lot. It did not change a single world view I have tho, but made me go hmmm.

Thought provoking

The reading was a bit dry, but the concepts interesting. Regardless of which theory to which you ascribe, this book will challenge your thinking. You will likely come away with a more solid belief system. It IS a bit left leaning, but not so much so that it was hard to listen to.

I’d recommend!

A great book that got me thinking about justice, what it means, and how we have to confront our different notions of the good life in pubic discourse.

A book that makes us think

Any additional comments?

This is the book that pushes me to think out of my comfort zone. The justice problem is far more outreaching than we could be aware of.