In this book, Michael Sandel takes up some of the hotly contested moral and political issues of our time, including affirmative action, assisted suicide, abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, the meaning of toleration and civility, the gap between rich and poor, the role of markets, and the place of religion in public life. He argues that the most prominent ideals in our political life - individual rights and freedom of choice - do not by themselves provide an adequate ethic for a democratic society. Sandel calls for a politics that gives greater emphasis to citizenship, community and civic virtue, and that grapples more directly with questions of the good life. Liberals often worry that inviting moral and religious argument into the public sphere runs the risk of intolerance and coercion. These essays respond to that concern by showing that substantive moral discourse is not at odds with progressive public purposes, and that a pluralist society need not shrink from engaging the moral and religious convictions that its citizens bring to public life.

邁剋爾•桑德爾（Michael Sandel），著名政治學傢、作傢。現任教於哈佛大學。他在《自由主義與正義的局限》（Liberalism and the Limits of Justice，1982）一書中對羅爾斯《正義論》（Theory of Justice，1971）進行瞭批判，並提齣瞭社群主義（Communitarianism）的理論。代錶作還有《民主的不滿》（Democracy's Discontent）和《公共哲學》（Public Philosophy）。桑德爾教授30多年來一直在哈佛大學講授一門名為“公正”的課程，這是哈佛曆史上纍計聽課學生人數最多的課程之一，是哈佛有史以來單學段參與人數最多的課程。英國的《衛報》稱邁剋爾•桑德爾教授為“世界上最受歡迎的老師之一”。