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The Public Philosopher

Factual: Politics

Political philosopher Michael Sandel examines the thinking behind a current controversy.

Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel examines the thinking behind a current controversy.

The Public Philosopher: Series 2

The Public Philosopher: Series 2: Episode 2: Welfare

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Welfare

Episode 2

Episode 2: Welfare

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - The Public Philosopher, Series 2, Welfare

Prof Michael Sandel discusses the philosophy of welfare benefits with a Boston audience.

As the US prepares for presidential elections, Harvard professor Michael Sandel discusses the philosophy of welfare benefits with an audience in Boston.

The eminent American political philosopher Michael Sandel is Radio 4's "Public Philosopher." Now, as America prepares for its Presidential elections, he is going on the road in America with a unique mission to challenge ordinary voters and lay bare the deeper moral questions bound up in the noisy Romney and Obama campaigns.

In this week's programme, Professor Sandel is at Harvard, his home university in the intellectual heartland of New England. Much of the debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama has been about welfare policy, social security and healthcare. Underlying this, Professor Sandel believes, is a moral and philosophical disagreement about the nature of the American dream itself.

Earlier this year, Obama was attacked for his remarks about the role of government. "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive," the President said. "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." Republicans saw this as an attack on business and accused Obama of stifling the idea of individual success at the core of the American dream. The right's policies are more focussed on individual choice -- lowering taxes and opposing, for example, the type of universal health care policy which Obama has enacted. 

Against this backdrop, our public audience will be asked: "Who Built It? Is the American vision of individual responsibility for one's own success a myth?" Michael Sandel weaves through these issues with the help of philosophers past and present.

Producer: Mukul Devichand.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel questions the thinking beneath controversies

Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel questions the thinking underlying a current controversy

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Episode 2: Welfare

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