Philsophy 101: Class is in Session --Justice with Michael Sandel

Today I'm going to redirect everyone to Philosophy. I've only taken one Philosophy course (and was stuck with a monotone professor at 8 am) but I've found the entire topic to be so interesting; now I want to share it with you. I want to specifically mention a political philosopher named Michael Sandel. There are several reasons why I want to talk about him: the first being that he has provided a very good answer the most of the skeptics of philosophical discussion; the general argument goes like this: We've spent thousands of years (since even before the time of Aristotle) and have not been able to conclusively solve any of the ethical dilemmas discussed, and if Locke, Aristotle and Kant can't solve them, what chance do we here today have? Who are we to think that we can so easily solve all the problems and perhaps morals are just subjective, where everyone has their own for their own actions and there is no way of reasoning it.

Ancient Philosopher Aristotle

To this most common of arguments Sandel replies, "It is true that these questions have been debated for a very long time but the very fact that they have reoccurred and persisted may suggest that though they're impossible in one sense, they are unavoidable in another... and the reason they're inescapable is that we live some answer to these questions every day. So skepticism, just throwing your hands and giving up on moral reflection is no solution." To compliment his response, Sandel cites the famous philosopher Emanuel Kant: Skepticism is a resting place for human reason where it can reflect upon its dogmatic wanderings but it is no dwelling place for permanent settlement. Simply to acquiesce in skepticism can never suffice to overcome the restless of reason."

It's with this mindset that we should all delve into the world of philosophy: a world where reason wrestles with the circumstances that humans have lived with since our inception. 

Political Philosophy Michael Sandel

So who is Michael Sandel? You can find his Wikipedia page here, but to summarize, he is a political philosopher and also a Harvard professor. He graduated college from Brandeis University and then got his doctorate Balliol College as a Rhodes Scholar!!!! (to those that don't know, it's the oldest and most prestigious international award) Also interestingly, he learned under Charles Taylor.. YIKES! (Charles Taylor is also a Bentley University graduate! woo!!). To his current work, as a professor at Harvard, Sandel has taught "Justice," a philosophy course at the university since the 1980s. Over time, he's has 14,000 students go through his class making it one of the most attended classes in Harvard's history. In 2007 alone he has more than 1000 students register for the class. Now, his "Justice" class is being posted online for all to watch and has gotten considerable attention.  You can take the semester with 12 videos about 55 mins each challenging your thoughts and reason. If you don't have the time or bandwidth to take all his classes, I would just ask that you take his very first course which will ignite your imagination and force you to challenge your opinions.

Sandel's Classroom

I've watched some 5 episodes and can't get enough. He has my highest recommendation. If you feel that you haven't understood anything in this post because you know nothing about Philosophy, Michael Sandel is famous for his ability to introduce philosophical questions and discussions to the public; at least watch the first  episode and enjoy!! If you want to go directly to his Youtube channel, just click the title of this blog.

If you would like to see his TED Talk profile, click here.