‘Rock star’ Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel all set to discuss money, markets and morals at first Hong Kong event in a decade
In town for oversubscribed lecture at Chinese University, US academic comments on the frustrations in city over wealth gap and quality of political discourse
“Rock star” philosopher Michael Sandel sees Hongkongers as being vexed by the gap between rich and poor, and by the fragmented state of political discourse in the city.
The Harvard professor is keen to see how his audience, the majority of whom will be Chinese University students, will respond to the ethical dilemmas presented to them on Friday evening, at his first Hong Kong event in a decade.
The lecture at CUHK was well oversubscribed, with some 2,000 free tickets being snapped up in just over 90 minutes last week. Organisers from Chinese University’s Research Centre for Human Values said there was demand for at least 6,000 seats based on registration numbers.
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The lecture, titled “What Money Can’t Buy: the Moral Limits of Markets”, is based on his bestselling book of the same name.
Sandel said he was looking forward to “hearing the students respond to the ethical dilemmas on money, markets and morals in our society and to see how their thinking has evolved”.
Working- and middle-class families have not enjoyed the benefits of recent economic growth, and this is an unresolved challenge in Europe, China and Hong Kong.
Professor Simon Haines, director of the centre and chairman of CUHK’s English department, hoped the lecture would broaden student perspectives on ideas about politics, culture and identity.
Commenting on the challenges in advanced economies and societies in tackling the gap between rich and poor, Sandel said: “Working- and middle-class families have not enjoyed the benefits of recent economic growth, and this is an unresolved challenge in Europe, China and Hong Kong.”
