Meritocracy on Trial: A Public Conversation on Michael Sandel’s The Tyranny of Merit
Should America be a meritocracy? Should those with the most ability get the most rewards? Or is the ideal of meritocracy tearing us apart?
Political philosopher Michael Sandel discussed the influences of meritocracy and how we might rethink attitudes toward success and failure at a talk presented at the Karsh Alumni Center on October 7. Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University where he is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government.
Sandel was joined by Danielle Sassoon, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Jedediah Purdy, Raphael Lemkin Distinguished Professor of Law at Duke. The speakers shared insights and perspectives on the role of merit and universities in shaping our democracy, with Sandel expanding on arguments from his award-winning book, "The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good?"
"The ideal of meritocracy shapes the lives of everyone at a place like Duke, as well as throughout our country," said Alexander Kirshner, professor of Political Science and organizer of the event. "That's why we wanted to organize this discussion, and you could see the interest in the huge turnout. Between Sandel, Sassoon and Purdy, we had some of the best minds discussing key features of our moral landscape. Agree or disagree, everyone left with something to think about."
Meritocracy on Trial was sponsored by the Department of Political Science. Co-sponsors included the Duke Initiative for Science & Society; Kenan Institute for Ethics; Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program (PPE); Office of the Provost and Transformative Ideas.
