What is the right thing to do?

     Everyday people encounter with the following type of questions that have no definite answers: Is torture ever justified? Would you steal a drug that your child needs to survive? Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth? Can a lie be justified? How much is one human life worth? Can one decide on a person’s life? 

     Last year I and my classmates were trying to understand the logic of moral judgment and decision making with our instructor of Business Ethics in ATC. Ethics is the feeling of a person about what is right and what is wrong. It is actually a very interesting subject or a philosophy that helps you understand what you already know. I liked the subject very much and I was very glad finding a related podcast in www.ted.com. In his “What is the right thing to do?” talk Michael Sandel explains moral principles to his students of what is right or wrong, good or bad. Michael J. Sandel is a professor at Harvard University, where he has taught political philosophy since 1980. His has published five books and the next will be published in spring 2012. Sandel is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations.

     During this episode Sandel (2009) presented very interesting cases that help students to understand the difference between categorical and consequential moral reasoning. For instance, imagine a situation when you are the driver of a trolley and you have jumped the tracks. Now you have two alternatives: you have to decide whether to kill one person and save the lives of five persons or vice versa. If you will sacrifice that person’s life for the sake of five lives, then this is an example of consequential moral reasoning, which locates morality in the consequences of an act. But if you think that every person has the right to live even if you will save five persons’ life with the well being of their families by killing just one person, then it is an example of categorical moral reasoning, which locates morality in certain duties and rights regardless of consequences. The other scenario was as follows: you are standing on the bridge beside a man and a high-speed trolley is coming  to the direction of five people. You can save the lives of those five people by pushing the man beside you to the trolley. Will you do that? This is a very hard question, because in this case you are just a bystander and you can just not take the responsibility in you. But the moral is the same - sacrifice one life for the sake of five lives.

     Over one hour I was enjoying the video. Sandel's clear pronunciation and pure presentation of the matter were delighting. He describes cases and welcomes students to present their point of view about the morality of the issue. This interactive question-answer procedure helps students to comprehent the material. Approximately one thousand students are sitting in the Harvard’s historic Sanders Theatre and listening to him with great admiration. Therefore it is no surprise that Sandel became one of the most popular teachers in the world due to his undergraduate course on Justice. I also dreamed of taking that course with him and fortunately it is not far from reality. Jutice is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online - www.JusticeHarvard.org - and on public television.