Source: Justice: A Journey in Moral Reasoning

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In this first set of video lectures from Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, Harvard University professor Michael Sandel introduces students to moral reasoning and the gray areas of right and wrong. In the first lecture, he presents students with a hypothetical scenario in which the majority choose to kill one person in order to save the lives of five others. He then presents three similar scenarios that are designed to make the decision increasingly complex; students defend their decisions, illustrating contradictory reasoning. In the second lecture, he introduces the principles of Utilitarian philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, using a 19^th century law case about shipwrecked crewmembers who decide to kill the weakest member to help the rest survive. Students engage in a debate about the moral validity of the Utilitarian theory of maximizing happiness by finding "the greatest good for the greatest number."