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Philosophize This! #205 · June 3, 2024 · 38m
Episode 205: Meritocracy and Justice — Michael Sandel
Stephen West explores Michael Sandels critique of meritocracy: why the belief that success is earned and failure is deserved corrodes solidarity, humility, and the common good.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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West on Sandel: meritocracy creates a hedonic treadmill of credentialism. Each achievement (degree, promotion, award) raises the bar for what counts as 'successful,' producing endless striving without satisfaction.
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Sandel via West: meritocracy ignores that the 'merit' it rewards is itself shaped by environment — family, education, nutrition, neighborhood. If environment determines merit, and merit determines success, then success was determined by environment all along.
Highlights
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Meritocracy replaces aristocratic hubris with meritocratic hubris — the effect on the losers is identical
West explains Sandels argument: aristocrats told the poor that God assigned their station. Meritocrats tell the poor that the market assigned their station. In both cases, the system justifies the suffering of those at the bottom.•
The common good requires that citizens see themselves as sharing a fate — meritocracy destroys this solidarity
West presents Sandels case that democratic self-governance requires mutual obligation — a sense that we are all in this together. Meritocracy undermines this by encouraging winners to believe they owe nothing to the community that enabled their success.Was this useful?