Big Think

Question: What do you do?

Michael Sandel: The way I would describe what I do is I teach political philosophy. And what that really amounts to is inviting students to reflect critically on their own moral and political convictions; to figure out what they believe and why; and to do that in the company of some of the great philosophers of the past. So I invite students to read some of the famous works of political philosophy, but with an eye to contemporary challenges and dilemmas. And above all, with an eye to sorting out . . . Students very, very much wanted to sort out their own moral and religious convictions … their own take on the world. That’s really what I do.

Recorded on: 6/12/07