Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 03: "FREE TO CHOOSE"

I love it how even after spending about 3 hours with him I haven't been able to gauge the professor's preferred ideology. He has points in favour and against every philosophy. Lack of bias is all we need from people involved in public services. Much respect :)

In this episode: Raoul´s heart breaks as he realizes the Prof doesn´t remember him from episode 1. Will he get over it and try again in episode 4?

I admire these students, for their willingness to contest ideals in front of so big an audience.

I didn’t realize this was from 10 years ago until they said the richest person was Bill Gates. 😬

"Need is one thing and dessert is another." 38:36 —the argument against chocolate cream pie

It was really awkward how she kept violating the property rights of his microphone.

Everyone in the audience: "We live in a society"

This professors wisdom is beyond fathomable. Not only did he perfect the art of teaching, every interactions with his students is strategically and properly executed. At my stage in life, I really don't know how he's able to keep track of so many things flawlessly. Explaining this philosophical topic is hard enough by itself, he does it eloquently. He explains everything in a way that every single listener is able to understand and relate to. You can tell the student is lost a lot of time due to the complexity and deepness of these fundamental yet difficult questions and still he is able to pick up where they speaker lose itself connect with them and guide them in the right direction. Really inspiration. I want to be like this man.

Thank you so much Harvard University. I live in a very small insignificant village somewhere in India that's not even on the map... I know I don't belong here, with regards to many like me, in terms of intellectual capacity but we feel a part of a GLOBAL human cognition... all thanks to you. Thanks for changing my life. :)

Interesting lecture. I like how the lecturer really grills the participants on both sides and doesn't let them get away with wishy-washy answers.

This is fascinating. I absolutely love how the professor encourages them to really push back at their own opinions and not give trite answers. He fosters such thought-provoking discussion. The worst thing is that I wish so much I could jump right into the conversation! I have answers and thoughts on a lot of these questions, and sometimes I've found myself shouting at the computer screen.

06:28 - Libertarianism - Robert Nozick 08:10 - The Libertarian View of Govt - 1. No Paternalist Legislation 2. No Moral Legislation - Example - Homosexual Laws 3. No redistribution of Income from rich to poor 11:02 - The debate over 3rd feature of Libertarian philosophy of Nozick- Minimalist state principle Nozick - What makes Income Distribution Just ? 1. Justice in Acquisition 2. Justice in Transfer (free market) - Example of Bill Gates, Micheal Jordan --> Utilitarian vs Libertarian taxing rich people for welfare of marginal section -- Points to think upon - equality in opportunity 23:26 - Nozick argument of taxation being equivalent to forced labor --> Libertarian argument that taxation violates rights of self-possession Utilitarianism approach always focuses upon maximizing utility without regard for individual rights - That is why it is not right to yank out the organs of a healthy person in doctor example in lecture 1. Utilitarian assumes that person belongs to society not to his self. 28:13 - Milton Friedman - Libertarian economist- argument against social security for old age in form of PF 32:40 - libertarian's argument against redistribution is based on belief of self-possession. 42:54 - Going with the Libertarian approach - that right to private property is an individual right but the question arises that are all rights equal? Should we consider right to free speech and right to religious practices on same moral platform as right to property ? 43:40 - How right to property holding and right to religious practice are different ? 48:00 - Argument against right to self-possession - You live in a society - considering society wants to stay stable, it has to adhere to some sort of guiding principles. When a person choose to live in society he give up some of his rights to enjoy being perks of society. 53:02 - John Locke proposition of property right Conclude - Utilitaranian approach has some drawbacks, it feels morally wrong to apply it at some instances and Libertarian tries to overcome these drawbacks. But does that mean that Libertarian approach is better than Utilitaranian approach ? The debate over these two - points out many dilemmas where argument and anti-aruments are done to support these theories.

I just watch this and realize how much of a hypocrite I am in my way of life

Without using case, I had been able to defend myself successfully in a Canadian Court in Toronto, Ontario using the legal philosophy I have learned listening to philosophy contained in his legal philosophy and I got myself free and got a standing ovation in court.

I have nothing to do with this field of study and yet I was utterly mesmerised by the lecture. I have no words to describe this experience. Thank you for uploading this lecture.

Finally I can attend Harvard University without costing any money 💵

I’m Japanese and I started watching this video for studying English. First, the content was too difficult for me to understand by listening. So I bought his book ‘Justice-what’s the right thing to do?’ and read it. Then, I came back and I’m on this chapter. I realized that the main purpose of watching this video has changed into enjoying the content. It’s an amazingly interesting lecture.

Sandel has such a rich disposition, it makes me want to read his books!

Michael Sandel aka 'if Tywin Lannister had become a Maester'.

Michael Jordon couldn't play basketball in the state of nature. There wouldn't be a court to play on, a stadium for people to watch, and consequently no possibility of earning huge sums of money for the game. So, thanks to the compact between individuals and the state, we are able to live in a society that provides laws, infrastructure, stability, education, basketball lessons, and so on and so forth. In return we sacrifice a portion of of income, which in turn helps ensure the ongoing vitality of society.