Synopses & Reviews
A renowned political philosopher rethinks the role that markets and money should play in our societyShould we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we put a price on human life to decide how much pollution to allow? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, auctioning admission to elite universities, or selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay?
In his New York Times bestseller What Money Cant Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes up one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Isnt there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they dont belong? What are the moral limits of markets?
In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society.
In Justice, an international bestseller, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Cant Buy, he provokes a debate thats been missing in our market-driven age: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society, and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets do not honor and money cannot buy?
Review
"Michael J. Sandel, political philosopher and public intellectual, is a liberal, but not the annoying sort. His aim is not to boss people around but to bring them around to the pleasures of thinking clearly about large questions of social policy. Reading this lucid book is like taking his famous undergraduate course Justice without the tiresome parts, such as term papers and exams." George F. Will
Review
"Justice, the new volume from superstar Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, showcases the thinking on public morality that has made him one of the most sought-after lecturers in the world." Richard Reeves, Democracy
Review
Justice is Sandel at his finest: no matter what your views are, his delightful style will draw you in, and hell then force you to rethink your assumptions and challenge you to question accepted ways of thinking . . . He calls us to a better way of doing politics, and a more enriching way of living our lives." E. J. Dionne, Jr.
Review
"More than exhilarating; exciting in its ability to persuade this student/reader, time and again, that the principle now being invoked—on this page, in this chapter—is the one to deliver the sufficiently inclusive guide to the making of a decent life." Vivian Gornick, Boston Review
Synopsis
Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we allow corporations to pay for the right to pollute the atmosphere? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars? Auctioning admission to elite universities? Selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay?In What Money Cant Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they dont belong? What are the moral limits of markets?In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. Is this where we want to be?In his New York Times bestseller Justice, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Cant Buy, he provokes an essential discussion that we, in our market-driven age, need to have: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society—and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets don't honor and that money cant buy?
Synopsis
Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we allow corporations to pay for the right to pollute the atmosphere? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars? Auctioning admission to elite universities? Selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay?In What Money Cant Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they dont belong? What are the moral limits of markets?In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. Is this where we want to be?In his New York Times bestseller Justice, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Cant Buy, he provokes an essential discussion that we, in our market-driven age, need to have: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society—and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets dont honor and that money cant buy?
Synopsis
Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we allow corporations to pay for the right to pollute the atmosphere? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars? Auctioning admission to elite universities? Selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay?In What Money Cant Buy, Michael J. Sandel takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they dont belong? What are the moral limits of markets?In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. Is this where we want to be?In his New York Times bestseller Justice, Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Cant Buy, he provokes an essential discussion that we, in our market-driven age, need to have: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society—and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets dont honor and that money cant buy?
About the Author
Michael J. Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1980. He is the author of many books, including Justice: Whats the Right Thing to Do?, a New York Times bestseller in hardcover and paperback and a bestseller in translation in Japan and South Korea as well. He has taught his undergraduate course “Justice” to more than 15,000 Harvard students over the years, and video footage of the course were adapted into a PBS television series. Sandel graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University and received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He served on the George W. Bush administration's President's Council on Bioethics. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Reading Group Guide
1. How did you react to the list of startling price tags in the books introduction? How has this trend manifested itself in your workplace and your community?
2. Chapter 3, “How Markets Crowd Out Morals,” outlines two general objections—fairness and corruption—in the debates about what money should and should not buy. In your opinion, at what point does commercialization start to create inequality? Can the market process itself “taint” certain commodities, such as surrogate motherhood?
3. Sandel traces our culture of commercialization to Reagan-era deregulation, when free markets were touted as the key to prosperity and freedom. As the recent global economic crisis unfolded, did you blame the private sector, the government, or both? How have you been affected by the economic downturn?
4. Sandel describes the concept of jumping the queue for everything from “free” theater performances and papal masses to doctors appointments and congressional committee hearings. How is this new revenue stream redefining our concept of “public”? What is the harm if public audiences no longer reflect a broad spectrum of citizens?
5. The distinction between fees and fines raises the dilemma faced by many government agencies that are torn between their need to make up for financial deficits and their role as instillers of responsible behavior. Does Finlands approach, which ties speeding-ticket fines to income, solve the dilemma?
6. The Advanced Placement financial-incentive program described in chapter 2 was sometimes successful simply because of the way certain students perceived money. In these cases, it didnt matter if the reward was $500 or $100; it was simply cool to have cash. What can money symbolize, beyond just a means to purchase goods and services?
7. The author says economists have a hard time understanding gift-giving as rational social practice. What does this say about the irrationality of generosity? Is it socially destructive to rely solely on rational thinking?
8. Chapter 3 features a study of Israeli students who went door-to-door soliciting money for worthy causes. The unpaid group, which received a motivational speech beforehand but no commission, raised 55 percent more than those who were offered a 1 percent commission, and they raised 9 percent more than those who were offered a 10 percent commission. What do you make of this? How do you personally define a “rewarding” experience?
9. Chapter 3 includes the premise that altruism is limited and can reach a depletion point. Do you have any evidence of this in your community? Or do you agree with Sandel that altruism is a muscle that grows with exercise and is only diminished by a market-driven economy?
10. Discuss the concept of viaticals and “janitors insurance.” Does consent make any difference in the debate? Should there be limits on which aspects of death (mortuary services, annuity terms and conditions) can be commercialized?
11. Is there anything wrong with using your body as a billboard, as long as its your choice to do so? If youre doing it because you are in deep poverty, does this mean you really didnt have a choice?
12. For public entities (especially schools and jails), is there a moral difference between raising revenue through bond sales versus advertising sales? Is taxation the noblest way to fund public services?
13. Should there be a different set of standards for naming rights and other forms of advertising in the world of sports? Or should the sports industry have the same status as other private-sector enterprises?
14. The income gap between Americas highest and lowest earners has reached record levels. Does this book describe a trend that will make the gap wider, or will these new revenue streams save the middle class?
15. Where do you draw your own line in response to the question “What cant money buy?” Among the books dozens of examples, from paying drug-addicted women to become sterilized to the practice of “carbon offsets” (paying a price to offset the damage caused by energy consumption), which ones made you uncomfortable? Which ones made you curious about trying to profit from them yourself?
16. How do the concepts in Sandels previous book, Justice, apply to the moral dilemmas raised in What Money Cant Buy?
Reading group guide written by Amy Clements / The Wordshop, Inc.