Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? Booked by Michael J. Sandel

Chapter 1: Doing the Right Thing 

Michael J. Sandel opens his book “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?” by exploring several ethical and moral dilemmas that society has faced. 

    First, in the wake of Hurricane Charley in 2004, price gouging for gasoline and other basic necessities became common place which fueled an anger by both customers and observers over the exploitation of a crisis for personal profit. 

    The second example outlined concerns the awarding of the Purple Heart for American soldiers wounded or killed by enemies. But the Purple Heart is only awarded for physical injuries and not mental injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which had, at the time of writing, become a significant and widespread “injury” following the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

    The third example used was the infamous bailouts to Wall Street banks following the 2008 financial crisis where banks were given billions of dollars to secure risky investments. Banks then took the opportunity to award lavish bonuses on executives which sparked a wave of outrage.

    In all three case studies there is a moral concern about what is “just,” or what is the right thing to do? Through the distribution of goods, whether gasoline, purple hearts or bank bonuses, Sandel identifies three ways of approaching these matters 1) Welfare; 2) Freedom; 3) Virtue. Many of the common debates about justice in society revolve around these three pillars: How do we maximize social welfare? How do we respect freedom? And how do we cultivate virtue? 

     Often moral disagreements occur between individuals, many times these disagreements occur within individuals. To resolve these conflicts, philosophers have employed moral reasoning to hypothetical and real-life examples which Sandel employs throughout the book.

Ethical Dilemma # One

In all three case studies there is a moral concern about what is “just,” or what is the right thing to do? Through the distribution of goods, whether gasoline, purple hearts or bank bonuses, Sandel identifies three ways of approaching these matters 1) Welfare; 2) Freedom; 3) Virtue. Many of the common debates about justice in society revolve around these three pillars: How do we maximize social welfare? How do Ethical Dilemma # Two Imagine you’re a trolley car drive. The car’s brakes have broken, and it is heading down the road towards a group of five people which will surely die if you hit them. You have the ability to turn and only kill one worker on the alternative track. What would you do?

Ethical Dilemma # Two

Now imagine you’re an onlooker watching the car barrel down the track and you can save the five people down the track by pushing one person on the track which would effectively stop the train. What do you do? Why might your decision change from Conundrum One?

“Political philosophy cannot resolve these disagreements once and for all. But it can give shape to the arguments we, and bring moral clarity to the alternatives we confront as democratic citizens”

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