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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