Effort or Luck?: Thinking through Michael Sandel’s The Tyranny of Merit
Kanazawa University Extension Course, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, Aug, 2024.
CHIHIRO KARIYA, PhD 
Abstract
This course explores the question of whether meritocracy is truly just through Michael Sandel’s The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?. Meritocracy and performance-based systems often appear fair because they reward ability and effort. However, opportunities to develop one’s abilities are themselves unequally distributed. For example, academic achievement is often influenced by unequal access to educational resources, such as private tutoring. Drawing on both classical theories of justice and contemporary examples from Japan, this course invites participants to critically examine the promises and limits of meritocracy and to consider how a more just society might be achieved.