Assignment for Thursday, Feb 7

View Michael Sandel's lecture "The Moral Side of Murder" from his Justice course at Harvard. (It's a little less than an hour long.) The title of the lecture is a bit deceptive; be prepared to think about justice as the greatest good for the greatest number, which is the basis of a kind of philosophical thinking called utilitarianism. As the course guide puts it: "According to the principle of utility, we should always do whatever will produce the greatest amount of happiness and whatever is necessary to prevent the greatest amount of unhappiness. But is that right? Should you always try to maximize happiness? Should you always do whatever is necessary to minimize unhappiness?" Be prepared to answer these questions in class.