Justice

オーディオブック Justice 聴き始めました。NHKの白熱教室で取り上げられているらしいけど、放送を見逃してしまったのでiTunes U とオーディオブックのほうで。正義について考える、というと大げさで非日常的な感じがしましたが、サンデル教授の巧みな話術、身近な例題のおかげでとてもわかりやすいです。

iTunes U とオーディオブックは基本的には同じですが、少々取り上げられている例が違うので、両方聞いて理解を深めるのがよさそう。iTunes講義のほうは一回２５分程。例題についての答えがないので最初は戸惑いましたが、先生がすぐに答えを与えるような講義ではなく、自分で考えるからこそ面白いんだなと気づきました。

I’ve been currently listening to an audiobook called “Justice.” It is based on a popular lecture held at Harvard University by Michael J. Sandel. Thinking of justice seems to be a big deal in my daily life, but this book gives me compelling interests by suggesting familiar examples.

Suppose you were driving a trolley at 60 miles an hour down a highway. You found five workers with tools in hand on the sides and noticed the brake doesn’t work. You found only one worker on the other side of the track and noticed you could steer the handle. Is it the right thing to steer the handle to save 5 people by sacrificing 1 person? Lots of people might say it’s the right thing to do when you can save 5 people at the cost of 1 person’s life. In this case, number counts.

And then, you are a bystander watching the trolley run away from a bridge this time. You want to stop the devastating situation, but don’t know what to do. This time, there isn’t a workman on the other side of the road. Then, you noticed there is a very fat man next to you leaning over from the bridge watching the trolley. If you push the man from the bridge to make the trolley stop and save 5 people, is it the right thing to do? You can’t sacrifice yourself because you are too small to stop the trolley.

　If it’s good to steer the handle to save 5 people by sacrificing 1 person, why doesn’t it seem right to push the man from the bridge? Both the men on the sides and the bridge don’t mean to sacrifice their lives by just being there. In this book, the author gives us clues to think about what are the right things to do. I like this book because it doesn’t require any laws or principles to make things complicated. I was accustomed to a lecture style that teachers give us answers. This book is different in that readers come to think of controversial topics while reading. I’m enjoying the intellectual process and hope I can contemplate my justice in the course.