Michael Sandel | |
|---|---|
 Sandel in 2012 | |
| Born | Michael Joseph Sandel (1953-03-05)March 5, 1953 (age 72) Minneapolis,Minnesota, U.S. |
| Awards | American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002) |
| Education | |
| Education | |
| Thesis | Liberalism and the Problem of the Moral Subject (1980) |
| Doctoral advisor | Charles Taylor[1] |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | |
| Institutions | Harvard University |
| Doctoral students | Yascha Mounk[2] |
| Notable students | Ketanji Brown Jackson |
| Main interests | |
| Notable works | |
| Notable ideas | Communitarian critique ofliberalism |
| Part ofa series on |
| Communitarianism |
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Michael Joseph Sandel[3] (/sænˈdɛl/; born March 5, 1953) is an Americanpolitical philosopher and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government atHarvard University, where his courseJustice was the university's first course to be made freely available online and on television. It has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world, including in China, where Sandel was named the 2011 "most influential foreign figure of the year" (China Newsweek).[4][5]
He is known for his critique ofJohn Rawls'A Theory of Justice in his first book,Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982). He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002.[6]
Sandel was born in 1953[7] into aJewish family, which moved to Los Angeles when he was thirteen.[8] He was president of his senior class atPalisades High School and graduatedPhi Beta Kappa fromBrandeis University with aB.A. in politics in 1975. As aRhodes Scholar, he received his doctorate in politics fromBalliol College, Oxford, in 1985, studying under philosopherCharles Taylor.[9]
Sandel subscribes to a certain version ofcommunitarianism (although he is uncomfortable with the label), and in this vein he is perhaps best known for hiscritique ofJohn Rawls'sA Theory of Justice. Rawls's argument depends on the assumption of theveil of ignorance, which Sandel argues commits Rawls to a view of people as "unencumbered selves". Sandel's view is that we are by nature encumbered to an extent that makes it impossible even hypothetically to have such a veil.[10]
Some examples of such ties are those with our families, which we do not make by conscious choice, but are born with, already attached. Because they are not consciously acquired, it is impossible to separate oneself from such ties. Sandel believes that only a less-restrictive, looser version of the veil of ignorance should be postulated. Criticism such as that of Sandel inspired Rawls to subsequently argue that his theory of justice was not a "metaphysical" theory, but a "political" one, a basis on which an overriding consensus could be formed among individuals and groups with many different moral and political views.[10]
Sandel joined the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in 1981.[11] He has taught the Justice course at Harvard University for two decades. More than 15,000 students have taken the course,[12] making it one of the most highly attended in Harvard's history. The fall 2005 course was recorded and is offered online for students through theHarvard Extension School.[citation needed] The fall 2007 class was the largest ever at Harvard, with a total of 1,115 students.[13][14]
An abridged form of this recording is now a 12-episode television series,Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, in a co-production ofWGBH and Harvard University. Episodes are available on the Justice with Michael Sandel website.[15] There is an accompanying book,Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? and the sourcebook of readingsJustice: A Reader.
The popularity of the show is attributed to the discussion-oriented format (theSocratic method)—rather than recitation and memorization of facts—and to Sandel's engaging style, incorporating context into discussion; for example, he starts one lecture with a discussion of the ethics ofticket scalping.[16]
TheBBC broadcast eight 30-minute segments from the series onBBC Four starting on 25 January 2011.[17]
In April 2012,BBC Radio 4 broadcast a three-part series and later, a podcast presented by Sandel entitledThe Public Philosopher.[14][18][19] These followed a format similar to the Justice lectures, this time recorded in front of an audience at theLondon School of Economics. Across three programs, Sandel debates with the audience whether universities should give preference to students from poorer backgrounds, whether a nurse should be paid more than a banker, and whether it is right to bribe people to be healthy.
On April 29, 2013, the philosophy department faculty ofSan Jose State University addressed an open letter to Sandel protesting the use of MOOCs (massively open online courses) such as his Justice course.[20] Sandel publicly responded: "The worry that the widespread use of online courses will damage departments in public universities facing budgetary pressures is a legitimate concern that deserves serious debate, at edX and throughout higher education. The last thing I want is for my online lectures to be used to undermine faculty colleagues at other institutions."[21] As of 2025, Sandel continues teaching his Justice course onedX.[22]
Sandel collaborates withDouglas Melton in teaching the seminar, "Ethics and Biotechnology", which considers the ethical implications of a variety ofbiotechnological procedures and possibilities.[citation needed]
According to the UK left-leaning newspaperThe Guardian in 2020, Sandel's politics are "squarely on the left". According to an interviewer from the newspaper: "In 2012, he added intellectual lustre toEd Miliband’s renewal project for theLabour Party (UK), speaking to that year’s party conference on the moral limits of markets... [and] helped inspire Miliband’s critique of “predatory capitalism”".[23]
Sandel is the author of several publications, includingDemocracy's Discontent andPublic Philosophy. In the former, Sandel writes that the discontent takes "the form of inchoate anxieties—a growing sense that we were losing control of the forces that govern our lives, and that the moral fabric of community was unraveling. As the global economy mattered more, the nation-state, traditionally the site of self-government, mattered less. The scale of economic life was exceeding the reach of democratic control".[24]Public Philosophy is a collection of his previously published essays examining the role of morality and justice in American political life. In it, he offers a commentary on the roles of moral values and civic community in the American electoral process—a much-debated aspect of the 2004 U.S. election cycle and of current political discussion.
Sandel gave the 2009Reith Lectures on "A New Citizenship" on BBC Radio, addressing the "prospect for a new politics of the common good".[25] The lectures were delivered in London on May 18, Oxford on May 21, Newcastle upon Tyne on May 26, and Washington, D.C. in early June, 2009.[26]
He is the author of the book,What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets (2012), which argues that some desirable things—such as body organs and the right to kill endangered species—should not be traded for cash.[27] In the book, Sandel argues that stimulating a market-oriented approach in people may lead to relaxation or even corruption of their moral values.[28]
In his 2020 book,The Tyranny of Merit, Sandel makes a case for overhauling western neo-liberalism, citingMichael Young's work as a precedent (Young popularized the term "meritocracy"), and developing a line of thought shared withDaniel Markovits inThe Meritocracy Trap.[29] According to Sandel, elite institutions including the Ivy League and Wall Street have corrupted our virtue and our sense of who deserves power.[30] Ongoing stalled social mobility and increasing inequality are laying bare the crass delusion of theAmerican Dream, and the promise "you can make it if you want and try". The latter, according to Sandel, is the main culprit of the anger and frustration that brought some Western countries towardpopulism.[31][32][33]
Among various reviews of the 2020 book, theEvening Standard headline was "Diagnosis but no cure for the ills of an unfair society",[34] inKirkus Reviews "Sandel’s proposals for change are less convincing than his deeply considered analysis."; in the British Education Studies Association, "We must abandon the elitism of the university degree... Of course, higher education is a good thing, even ‘a common good’. But the university should return to its role of defining and creating knowledge, not credits."[35]
In theHarvard Magazine review, "But even if equality of opportunity were attainable, which Sandel doubts, he thinks meritocracy would be neither desirable nor sustainable: even a perfect meritocracy has multiple flaws that make it unjust.";[36]The Wall Street Journal headlines: "Review: The Cream Also Rises: The meritocratic ideal makes elites arrogant and threatens communal solidarity. Identity-based policies make the problem worse."[37]
In 2009, Sandel criticized economistGary Becker, winner of theSveriges Riksbank Prize in honor of Alfred Nobel for his market immigration proposal.[citation needed]
Sandel is married to fellow Harvard professor Kiku Adatto.[citation needed]
Sandel served on theGeorge W. Bush administration'sPresident's Council on Bioethics.[citation needed]
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