Ep. 254: Michael Sandel Interview: Against Meritocracy (Part One)

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark Linsenmayer

Casey, Paskin, Philosophy, Linsenmayer, Society & Culture, Alwan

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2020

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? (2020).

Do people get the wealth and status they deserve? And if they did, would that be good? Michael critiques the meritocracy: It's not actually fair, leaves most people feeling humiliated, and makes those on the top arrogant and disconnected. The commitment to meritocracy is shared by both political parties and helps explain our current dysfunction.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the partially examined life podcast by some guys who at one point
0:11.6	said on doing philosophy for living, but then thought better of it.
0:14.3	Our question for episode 254 is, is meritocracy a good political ethic?
0:19.6	And we're talking with Michael J. Sandal about his new book, The Tyranny of Merit, What's
0:24.0	Become of the Common Good?
0:25.0	For more information, please visit partiallyexaminedlife.com.
0:29.2	This is Mark Linson-Mire in Madison, Wisconsin.
0:31.7	Not just a good choice to host your podcast, but a smart choice.
0:35.1	This is Seth Pascon, socially unmoble in Austin, Texas.
0:39.1	This is Wes Longone, and I believe that bus boys should think just as much as bankers in
0:44.8	Cambridge, Massachusetts.
0:46.3	But nowhere else.
0:47.3	Exactly.
0:48.3	This Cambridge Izzy Toby.
0:51.4	This is Dylan Casey recognizing the value of my work in Madison, Wisconsin.
0:55.8	Welcome everybody.
0:57.2	We've very seldom had a returning guest talking about his or her book.
1:01.3	We had a brand, but I can't think of anybody else, but we had him on.
1:05.6	We discussed one of his works on episode 97 and we had him on for 98.
1:09.8	So normally we wouldn't do this, but this just seemed like a really pressing topic.
1:13.3	What do you guys think of this book before he comes out?
1:15.4	He's going to come out in a few minutes here.
	...

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