Nussbaum, Martha C.,
1947–, American philosopher, b. New York City, Ph.D. Harvard
University, 1975. The Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law
and Ethics at the University of Chicago, Nussbaum is the author of many
books and articles and is globally celebrated for her work on Greek and
Roman philosophy, feminist
philosophy, and philosophy and
the arts. Previously, she has taught at Harvard, Brown, and Oxford.
Nussbaum's major areas of philosophical work include ethics, emotions, law, theories of justice, and animal rights. She is known for her
capabilities approach, which involves the attempt to integrate the concept
of individual human capabilities into the rubric for social justice beyond
conventional social contract theories of equality. Over the course of her
career, Nussbaum has examined questions of social justice and development,
with particular focus on women, and illuminated issues of morality by
analyzing how philosophy and literature overlap.
Nussbaum has received numerous awards and honors. She was elected to the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences and is also a member of the American
Philosophical Society. Nussbaum was elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the
British Academy in 2008. She has been a member of the Board of the American
Council of Learned Societies and has been listed among the world's top
intellectuals by Foreign Policy magazine and
Prospect magazine. Nussbaum founded the Center for
Comparative Constitutionalism at the University of Chicago and is the
recipient of over thirty honorary degrees. She won the Kyoto Prize in Arts
and Philosophy in 2016 amd the Holberg Prize in 2021.
Nussbaum has published several books, including, but not limited to, The
Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and
Philosophy (1986), Love's Knowledge (1990),
Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal
Education (1997), Sex and Social Justice
(1998), Women and Human Development (2000),
Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions
(2001), Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law
(2004), Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species
Membership (2006), From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual
Orientation and Constitutional Law (2010), Not For
Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (2010),
Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach
(2011), The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of
Fear in an Anxious Age (2012), Political Emotions: Why
Love Matters For Justice (2013), The Monarchy of Fear:
A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis (2018), The
Cosmopolitan Tradition (2019), Citadels of Pride Sexual
Abuse, Accountability, and Reconciliation (2021), and
Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility (2022).
See J. M. Alexander, Capabilities and Social Justice: The Political
Philosophy of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum (2008); I. M.
Young, Responsibility for Justice (2011); R. West,
Nussbaum and Law (2015); A. Burman and S. Myreboe, ed.,
Martha Nussbaum: Ancient Philosophy, Civic Education and Liberal
Humanism (2019).
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