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person1970s-present

Martha Nussbaum

Disciplines:
philosophy
law
political theory

Summary

American philosopher at the University of Chicago Law School who has developed the capabilities approach to justice, written influentially on the role of emotions in ethics, and defended liberal education.

Core Contribution

Capabilities approach (with Amartya Sen): justice requires that all people have access to certain central human capabilities (life, health, sense, emotion, practical reason, affiliation, play, other species). The Fragility of Goodness: ancient Greek ethics — the good life is constitutively fragile, not under rational control. Upheavals of Thought: emotions are evaluative judgments, not mere feelings — they are constitutive of practical reason. Not for Profit: liberal education for democratic citizenship.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Testified as an expert witness in Romer v. Evans — a Colorado constitutional case on gay rights — and her testimony on the Greek and Roman history of homosexuality was cited in the majority opinion.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Fragility of Goodness

Love's Knowledge

Upheavals of Thought

Creating Capabilities

Not for Profit

Historical Influences

Aristotle John Rawls Amartya Sen

Intellectual Lineage

Neo-Aristotelian EthicsLiberal Political Philosophy

Contemporaries & Peers

Amartya Sen John Rawls

Minds Influenced

Human Development IndexFeminist Theory Development Ethics

Intellectual Posterity

Capabilities Approach Development Economics

Discussing

Martha Nussbaum

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