Michael Sandel’s Harvard course, “Justice,” is very popular and influential. In it, Sandel explores big questions about what’s right and wrong, and how we should live together. The course looks at different ideas about justice, like utilitarianism (the idea of maximizing happiness), libertarianism (the idea of maximizing freedom), Kantian ethics (following moral rules), and Rawlsian justice (fairness in society).
The course is known for its engaging style. Sandel invites students to debate and discuss tough issues, making complex ideas about ethics and morality easier to understand. The lectures are available online for free, which has attracted people from all over the world.
Michael J. Sandel is an American political philosopher who lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1980. 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). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002.