Michael Sandel

As Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy. He is one of the best known American public intellectuals whose writings on justice, ethics, democracy, and markets have been translated into more than 30 languages. His legendary course, “Justice,” is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television and has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world.

Sandel’s books relate enduring themes of political philosophy to the most vexing moral and civic questions of our time. They include: "The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?"; international bestsellers "What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets" and "Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?"; "The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering"; "Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics"; "Democracy’s Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy"; and "Liberalism and the Limits of Justice."

His global lectures have taken him across five continents and packed venues such as London's St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Sydney Opera House, the Public Theater in New York’s Central Park, and an outdoor stadium in Seoul, South Korea. Sandel has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, and delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford, the BBC’s Reith Lectures, and the Kellogg Lecture on Jurisprudence at the U.S. Library of Congress. In 2016, East China Normal University (Shanghai) convened an international conference to explore points of contact between Sandel’s work and the Confucian tradition.

Sandel has been a pioneer in the use of new technology to promote global public discourse. In his BBC series, "The Global Philosopher," Sandel leads video-linked discussions with participants from over 30 countries on the ethical aspects of issues such as immigration and climate change.

Sandel has served on the President's Council on Bioethics and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A graduate of Brandeis University, he received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.