In most of our lives, we are accustomed to aiming at mastery and control and dominion- - over nature, over our lives, over our jobs, over our careers, over the goods that we buy.
Michael SandelThe relief of suffering is a great good. The curing of illness and disease - these are great human goods. This is the mission of medicine.
Michael SandelOther animals can make sounds, and sounds can indicate pleasure and pain. But language, a distinctly human capacity, isnยดt just for registering pleasure and pain. Itยดs about declaring what is just and what is unjust, and distinguishing right from wrong. We donยดt grasp these things silently, and then put words to them; language is the medium through which we discern and deliberate about the good.
Michael SandelI think people who want to use genetic technologies to gain a competitive edge for their children are engaging in a kind of overreaching that could really undermine our appreciation of children as gifts for which we should be grateful and, instead, to view them as products or instruments that are there to be molded and directed.
Michael Sandel