A riveting speaker who teaches one of the most popular courses at Harvard University will speak about justice and contemporary moral dilemmas at Montana State University’s 2018 convocation at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23.

 

Michael Sandel, a political philosopher and bestselling author, will explore themes of moral justice during his lecture, “What IS the Right Thing to Do?” given in honor of MSU’s incoming freshman class. His lecture is free and open to the public. 

 

One of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, Sandel has been described as the “most relevant living philosopher.” Newsweek called him a “rock-star moralist” and New Republic called him “the most famous teacher of philosophy in the world.”

 

Sandel’s writings — on justice, ethics, democracy and markets — have been translated into 27 languages. His popular course “Justice” is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television. It has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world, including in China, where Sandel was named the “most influential foreign figure of the year” by Chinese Newsweek. A master at bringing the Socratic method to contemporary issues, Sandel’s TED talks about “What’s the Right Thing to Do?,” “The Lost Art of Democratic Debate,” and “We Shouldn’t Trust Markets with our Civic Life” have had millions of views. 

Sandel is also an author of several bestselling books. Among them are “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets” and “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?” The latter book has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. “Justice” will be MSU’s 2018 book for first year students.

 

A pioneer in the use of new technology to promote global public discourse, Sandel is featured in the BBC series “The Global Philosopher” leading video-linked discussions with participants from more than 30 countries on issues such as immigration and climate change.

 

“Employing a high-energy style that pulls in members of the audience, even with large audiences, Michael Sandel demonstrates how probing complicated moral dilemmas with reasoned debate can illuminate democratic principles,” said MSU Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Bob Mokwa. “This message is not only timely, but inspirational. We welcome all members of the community to join us at this event.”

MSU convocation is free, however, the general public must reserve tickets. Tickets will be available beginning Monday, June 11, at the Bobcat Ticket Office and all Ticketswest outlets.