A Times Literary Supplement's Book of the Year 2020
A New Statesman's Best Book of 2020
A Bloomberg's Best Book of 2020
A Guardian Best Book About Ideas of 2020
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The world-renowned philosopher and author of the bestselling Justice
explores the central question of our time: What has become of the common
good?
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These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners
and losers, where the odds are stacked in favor of the already
fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the
lie to the American credo that you can make it if you try. The
consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fueled populist
protest and extreme polarization, and led to deep distrust of both
government and our fellow citizens--leaving us morally unprepared to
face the profound challenges of our time.
World-renowned philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the
crises that are upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward
success and failure that have accompanied globalization and rising
inequality. Sandel shows the hubris a meritocracy generates among the
winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind, and
traces the dire consequences across a wide swath of American life. He
offers an alternative way of thinking about success--more attentive to
the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of
humility and solidarity, and more affirming of the dignity of work. The
Tyranny of Merit points us toward a hopeful vision of a new politics of
the common good.
