NHK: The Ultimate Choice

What this lecture covers

This broadcast, produced for Japanese television network NHK, is a video-linked global classroom rather than a standard lecture. Michael Sandel connects students in Tokyo, Shanghai and Harvard to discuss the 2011 Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster. The discussion centers on why the Japanese public responded to the crisis with such strong communal solidarity, whether nuclear power should be abandoned for safer alternatives, and whether the global outpouring of support for Japan after the earthquake shows that human sympathy can cross national and cultural boundaries.

Key ideas

• Communal response to crisis: the discussion examines what accounts for the strength of collective, community-oriented behavior in Japan's response to the disaster.
• Nuclear power trade-offs: students debate whether the risks exposed by the nuclear disaster justify abandoning nuclear power for other energy sources.
• Sympathy across borders: the global relief effort for Japan raises the question of whether human concern can transcend national boundaries and cultural differences, connecting to the course's broader discussion of obligations of solidarity versus universal duties.

Before you watch

• This session connects to the course's lectures on obligations of solidarity, membership and patriotism, since it applies those questions to a real international crisis and cross-cultural discussion.

Check your understanding

1. What explanations does the discussion offer for the strength of Japan's communal response to the 2011 disaster?
2. What are the main arguments raised for and against continuing to rely on nuclear power?
3. Does the global response to Japan's crisis suggest that sympathy can extend beyond national boundaries, or does it still reflect particular loyalties?