Harvard's Philosopher King Brings Justice to the Masses

Professor Michael J. Sandel is apparently becoming quite the media darling. Tomorrow, his lectures will be broadcast on public television for all the world to see. As of today, this week’s episode is already available on his snazzy new website. And last Thursday, he made an appearance on the Today Show—for all of four minutes—to discuss his new book, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?.

Anchor Meredith Vieira wanted to know the answer to one main question: “So does philosophical reasoning have a place in modern life?”

Ponder this for a moment, then consider Sandel's response after the jump.

“Well, Socrates didn’t argue about Wall Street bailouts and health care and same sex marriage," he said. "These are the big questions about our political debates. And just beneath the surfaces of the debates are the big questions of justice... big questions of philosophy.”

So, in a word, yup.

Vieira also went through a few of Sandel’s famous hypothetical scenarios about trolley cars, starving sailors, and valuable flutes. By the end, though, she seemed to have had enough of these musings.

Sandel: He said justice was a matter of desert of honoring excellence, [music begins playing] the best flute player. And in a way, these debates, he didn’t argue about same sex marriage, in a way the question is—

Vieira: No debate here, we’ve run out of time!

Sandel: What—

Vieira: Sorry!

Sandel: [ignoring her] What should we honor as a community? [video gets cut off]

So much for philosophical public debates. Guess the one thing our community does honor is the time constraints of broadcast television.