Michael J. Sandel (born March 5, 1953) is an American political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. He is best known for the Harvard course ‘Justice’, which is available to view online, and for his critique of John Rawls‘ A Theory of Justice in his first book, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982).
The video below would help an UPSC aspirant in dealing with the paper on Ethics and Integrity which is there in the syllabus for Main examination.
Episode 02
Part 1 – PUTTING A PRICE TAG ON LIFE
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 for the greatest number.” Is it possible to sum up and compare all values using a common measure like money?
Part 2 – HOW TO MEASURE PLEASURE
Sandel introduces J. S. Mill, a utilitarian philosopher who argues that seeking “the greatest good for the greatest number” is compatible with protecting individual rights, and that utilitarianism can make room for a distinction between higher and lower pleasures. Sandel tests this theory by playing video clips from three very different forms of entertainment: Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the reality show Fear Factor, and The Simpsons. (Source: Harvard)
