Here is the prompt to my essay:
Topic B. Cultivating Virtues and Reasoning about the Common Good
Near the end of Justice: Whats’s the Right Thing to Do? Micheal Sandel writes “over the course of this journey, weve explored 3 approaches to justice. One says justice means maximizing utlity or welfare-the greatest happiness for the greatest number. The second says justice means respecting freedom of choice either the actual choices people make in a free market (the libertarian view) or the hypothetical choices people would make in an original position of equality (the libertarian egalitarian view). The third says justice involves cultivating virtue and reasoning about the common good. As you probably guessed by now, I favor the third approach.
In recent decades, Americans have leaned away from supporting the common good. Instead of campaigning for public parks, pools, and playgrounds, they buy homes in gated communities where these amenities are for members only. Instead of advocating for improvments in public education that will benefit all children including their own, they move to exclusive school districts where their children will get a better education than those in neighboring communities. Instead of sending their children to public schools, they send them to private or charter schools. To what extent do you think this trend is racially motivated?
Please explain why Sandal favors the third approach and what he thinks is involved in cultivated virtue and reasoning about the common good. What examples does he mention? What virtues and the common goods are now being fostered in America? What virtues and common goods do you think should be fostered? And by what means do you think our society should foster them?
