Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?

If you had to choose between killing one person or five, what would you do? The assumptions behind our moral reasoning are often contradictory, and the question of what is right or wrong is not always black and white. Also, Sandel debates the moral validity of the Utilitarian theory of maximizing overall happiness – often summed up with the slogan “the greatest good for the greatest number.”

Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarian theory, “the greatest good for the greatest number,” is used today as “cost-benefit analysis”. But is it fair to give more weight to the values of a majority, even when those may be inhumane? Also, J.S. Mill argues that all human experience can be quantifiable, and that some kinds of pleasures are more valuable than others. Which qualify as the “highest” pleasures?

Libertarians believe the ideal state is a society with minimal governmental interference. Robert Nozick, a Libertarian philosopher, argues that individuals have the fundamental right to choose how they want to live their own lives. Also, Nozick makes the case that taxing the wealthy to pay for housing, health care, and education for the poor is a form of coercion.

John Locke argues that before any political structure has been established, every human has certain natural rights to life, liberty and property. However, once we agree to enter into society, are we consenting to being governed by a system of laws? Also, examine Locke on the issue of taxation and consent. If we give our “implied consent” to taxation by living in society, is taxation legitimate?

Debate contemporary questions surrounding war and conscription. Is today’s voluntary army really voluntary? Also, Sandel applies the issue of free-market exchange to a contemporary and controversial new area: reproductive rights. Students discuss the morality of selling human life, the legal issues surrounding consent and contracts, and the power of maternal rights.

Immanuel Kant believed our capacity to reason and choose freely makes us unique, which sets us apart from mere animals. When we act out of duty, only then do our actions have moral worth. Sandel explains Kant’s test for determining whether an action is morally right: when making a decision, imagine if the moral principle behind your actions became a universal law that everyone had to live by.