Martha C. Nussbaum

A major work of scholarship by world-renowned, prize-winning philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum, The Republic of Love reveals opera as a profound form of political thought--and an often-overlooked force behind the political reforms of the Enlightenment. In The Republic of Love, world-renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum offers a bold and original vision of opera's contribution to political thought. Drawing on her deep knowledge of classical and contemporary opera, she reveals how composers such as Mozart, Verdi, Strauss, Beethoven, and others used their music to explore the emotional and ethical dimensions of human life. These works, she argues, illuminate our fundamental need for dignity, love, and freedom in the face of oppressive institutions--and they gesture toward new possibilities for how we might live together. Nussbaum devotes the first half of her book to Mozart, who embraced a new vision of freedom, writing male characters singing in a new emotional landscape, one that elevated the freedom of others. Her readings of The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte show an artist who recognized the capacity for love in everyone, and advanced fertile ideas about how we might cultivate it in a new kind of republic. The second half of her book follows this line of thought in operas by Beethoven, Verdi, Benjamin Britten, John Adams, and Jake Heggie, and their greatest antagonist, Richard Wagner, suggesting that they all, in a variety of ways, engage in conversation with Mozart and his themes of love and freedom. Throughout, Nussbaum identifies a recurring operatic metaphor for the impulse toward freedom: the act of breathing itself. A major work of scholarship by a prize-winning thinker, The Republic of Love redefines opera as a vital, if often overlooked, engine of Enlightenment ideals--and a powerful resource for imagining the emotional foundations of political life.

The human body is the primary instrument of war, yet those waging war often confront soldiers' bodies in a detached or merely intellectual way. In The Tenderness of Silent Minds, Martha C. Nussbaum, a leading thinker on emotion, morality, and justice, conducts a pioneering study of Benjamin Britten's musical representations of the tender male body amidst the brutality of war, and their ability to transform consciousness by evoking potent, non-personal emotions. Offering a reading of Britten's views about the value and beauty of the body that situates these in the context of his thirty-nine year partnership with his lover, the singer Peter Pears, and also surveying pacifist themes in works written both before and after War Requiem, Nussbaum presents a compelling framework for critically assessing Britten's oeuvre. Nussbaum engages with a remarkably wide range of Britten's works, examining his treatment of aggression and its roots in his collaborations with the poet W. H. Auden, offering readings of the value placed on the body in early partnerships with Britten's beloved and singer Peter Pears, and surveying pacifist themes in Britten's earlier works. The analysis throughout is enriched with perspectives from Britten's personal letters and thoughtful study of the social and political backdrop of fear and homophobic disgust in mid-twentieth century Britain. According to Nussbaum's interpretation, War Requiem confronts listeners with the reality of bodily experience in war, eliciting compassion by its depiction of beauty, vulnerability, and eroticism. Issuing a stern warning, it points the way to hope for postwar reconciliation. Nussbaum's careful analysis of Britten's score and its settings of both the Requiem Mass and Owen's poems, their historic performance at Coventry, and its philosophical commitments, unveils a message of human love in a hostile world that resonates as powerfully today as in post-war Britain.

A passionate defense of the humanities from one of today's foremost public intellectualsIn this short and powerful book, celebrated philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. Historically, the humanities have been central to education because they have been seen as essential for creating competent democratic citizens. But recently, Nussbaum argues, thinking about the aims of education has gone disturbingly awry in the United States and abroad. We increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically and become knowledgeable, productive, and empathetic individuals. This shortsighted focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems. And the loss of these basic capacities jeopardizes the health of democracies and the hope of a decent world. In response to this dire situation, Nussbaum argues that we must resist efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product. Rather, we must work to reconnect education to the humanities in order to give students the capacity to be true democratic citizens of their countries and the world. Translated into twenty-five languages, Not for Profit draws on the stories of troubling—and hopeful—global educational developments. Nussbaum offers a manifesto that should be a rallying cry for anyone who cares about the deepest purposes of education.

Luftföroreningar, avfallsdumpning och avskogning – den mänskliga aktivitet som bryter ned vårt gemensamma klimat drabbar i allt större utsträckning djuren. Det är inte bara tjuvjakt, vanskötsel och köttindustri som åsamkar dem lidande och skada. Varhelst städer, lantbruk och industrier breder ut sig uppstår konflikter mellan mänskliga intressen och de alltmer trängda djuren. Dessutom förstör klimatförändringar, förgiftning och miljövådligt avfall den planet som är alla djurs gemensamma boningsplats. Någonting har gått fel i civilisationens utveckling. Det är hög tid att inse att djurens rätt är vår gemensamma skyldighet. I Rättvisa åt djuren utarbetar den världsberömda filosofen Martha C. Nussbaum ett nytt teoretiskt ramverk för hur vi kan omskapa relationen mellan människor och djur. Den är en appell till en hel planet, ett stridsrop och en ny ansats för en genomgripande etisk, juridisk och politisk förändring som inte längre kan dröja.

A “brilliant” (Chicago Review of Books), “elegantly written, and compelling” (National Review) new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum. Animals are in trouble all over the world. Whether through the cruelties of the factory meat industry, poaching and game hunting, habitat destruction, or neglect of the companion animals that people purport to love, animals suffer injustice and horrors at our hands every day. The world needs an ethical awakening, a consciousness-raising movement of international proportions. In Justice for Animals, one of the world’s most renowned philosophers and humanists, Martha C. Nussbaum, provides “the most important book on animal ethics written to date” (Thomas I. White, author of In Defense of Dolphins). From dolphins to crows, elephants to octopuses, Nussbaum examines the entire animal kingdom, showcasing the lives of animals with wonder, awe, and compassion to understand how we can create a world in which human beings are truly friends of animals, not exploiters or users. All animals should have a shot at flourishing in their own way. Humans have a collective duty to face and solve animal harm. An urgent call to action and a manual for change, Nussbaum’s groundbreaking theory directs politics and law to help us meet our ethical responsibilities as no book has done before.

Over hele verden lider dyr. De blir påført smerte hver eneste dag - i kjøttproduksjonsindustrien og i form av vanskjøtsel, inhumane jaktmetoder og krypskytteri, ødeleggelse av habitater og forurensning av luft og hav. Menneskeheten må våkne! mener Martha C. Nussbaum, en av verdens mest innflytelsesrike filosofer. Vi vet for mye om dyrenes liv til å kunne skjule oss bak lettvinte unnskyldninger om at dyr er primitive vesener uten evne til å kjenne smerte, frykt eller glede. Det er på tide at vi tar inn over oss denne kunnskapen og handler i tråd med den. I denne boken tar Nussbaum for seg hele dyreriket - fra delfiner og kråker til elefanter og hunder - på en banebrytende måte. Ikke minst argumenterer hun for at det er menneskets plikt å slå ned på dyreplageri av alle slag og sørge for rettferdighet for dyrene. «Vi mennesker kan og må gjøre det bedre. Loven kan og må gjøre det bedre. Jeg tror at vi nå befinner oss i en viktig oppvåkningstid: Vi er i ferd med å bli klar over at vi er i slekt med en verden full av bemerkelsesverdig intelligente skapninger, og at vi står til ansvar for hvordan vi behandler dem.»

Kanske tänker man inte på liberalismen som en feministisk teori. Som Martha Nussbaum skriver har många tänkt att den i bästa fall bortser från kvinnors intressen, i värsta fall att den medvetet underminerar kvinnors behov och målsättningar. En del feministiska tänkare har till och med försökt definiera feminismen i motsats till liberalismen. Men Nussbaum framhåller att man än så länge bara har börjat se liberalismens radikala feministiska potential. Dess vision har alltid varit radikal, och den kan och bör leda till social revolution. Martha C. Nussbaum är en av världens mest kända filosofer med enorm bredd och omfattande utgivning. Hon har skrivit mer än tjugofem böcker, redigerat över tjugo, och publicerat mer än femhundra tidskriftsartiklar. Utöver det har hon tilldelats i princip alla stora utmärkelser man kan få som filosof, däribland Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture (2018), och the Holberg Prize (2021). Hon är Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics vid University of Chicago och har tidigare undervisat på Harvard, Brown och i Oxford. "Det finns en självklarhet i språket, som på inget sätt stänger in det filosofiska friutrymmet, men som skapar en begriplighet och logik i texten. ... Det är sympatiskt och medryckande ... Det är inte svårt att förstå hennes genomslagskraft hos en bred publik efter att ha läst Feminism och liberalism." BTJ-häftet nr 18, 2023

Martha C. Nussbaum er en av vår tids mest produktive nålevende filosofer og har publisert et stort antall bøker og artikler om alt fra antikk filosofi, moralfilosofi, politisk filosofi, feminisme til dyreetikk. I denne utgivelsen i Cappelens upopulære skrifter presenterer vi fire essay som på hver sin måte handler om sårbarhet. For Nussbaum er sårbarhet et eksistensielt grunnvilkår og sårbarheten hos mennesker og dyr kommer til uttrykk på ulike måter gjennom hele livet. For Nussbaum utgjør samspillet mellom kroppslig sårbarhet og relasjonell kjærlighet grunnlaget for sosial og global rettferdighet. De fire essayene har følgende hovedtitler: «Politiske dyr: hell, kjærlighet og verdighet», «Kapabiliteter og funksjonshemninger», «Kapabiliteter, krav og rettigheter» og «Å arbeide med og for dyr». Forordet «Sårbarhetens filosofi: Martha C. Nussbaums intellektuelle biografi» er skrevet av Odin Lysaker.

A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum. Animals are in trouble all over the world. Whether through the cruelties of the factory meat industry, poaching and game hunting, habitat destruction, or neglect of the companion animals that people purport to love, animals suffer injustice and horrors at our hands every day. The world needs an ethical awakening, a consciousness-raising movement of international proportions. In Justice for Animals, one of the world’s most influential philosophers and humanists Martha C. Nussbaum provides a revolutionary approach to animal rights, ethics, and law. From dolphins to crows, elephants to octopuses, Nussbaum examines the entire animal kingdom, showcasing the lives of animals with wonder, awe, and compassion to understand how we can create a world in which human beings are truly friends of animals, not exploiters or users. All animals should have a shot at flourishing in their own way. Humans have a collective duty to face and solve animal harm. An urgent call to action and a manual for change, Nussbaum’s groundbreaking theory directs politics and law to help us meet our ethical responsibilities as no book has done before.

In this essential philosophical and practical reckoning, Martha C. Nussbaum, renowned for her eloquence and clarity of moral vision, shows how sexual abuse and harassment derive from using people as things to one’s own benefit—like other forms of exploitation, they are rooted in the ugly emotion of pride. She exposes three “Citadels of Pride” and the men who hoard power at the apex of each. In the judiciary, the arts and sports, Nussbaum analyses how pride perpetuates systemic sexual abuse, narcissism and toxic masculinity. The courage of many has brought about some reforms but justice is still elusive—warped sometimes by money, power or inertia; sometimes by a collective desire for revenge. By analysing the effects of law and public policy on our ever-evolving definitions of sexual violence, Nussbaum clarifies how gaps in the law allow this violence to proliferate; why criminal laws dealing with sexual assault need to be complemented by an understanding of the distorted emotions that breed abuse and why anger and vengeance rarely achieve lasting change. Citadels of Pride offers a damning indictment of the culture of male power that insulates high-profile abusers from accountability. Yet Nussbaum offers a hopeful way forward, envisioning a future in which, as survivors mobilise to tell their stories and institutions pursue fair and nuanced reform, we might fully recognise the equal dignity of all people.

“Profound, beautifully written, and inspiring. It proves that Nussbaum deserves her reputation as one of the greatest modern philosophers.”—Globe and Mail“At a time of growing national chauvinism, Martha Nussbaum’s excellent restatement of the cosmopolitan tradition is a welcome and much-needed contribution…Illuminating and thought-provoking.”—Times Higher EducationThe cosmopolitan political tradition in Western thought begins with the Greek Cynic Diogenes, who, when asked where he came from, said he was a citizen of the world. Rather than declare his lineage, social class, or gender, he defined himself as a human being, implicitly asserting the equal worth of all human beings. Martha Nussbaum pursues this “noble but flawed” vision and confronts its inherent tensions. The insight that politics ought to treat human beings both as equal and as having a worth beyond price is responsible for much that is fine in the modern Western political imagination. Yet given the global prevalence of material want, the conflicting beliefs of a pluralistic society, and the challenge of mass migration and asylum seekers, what political principles should we endorse? The Cosmopolitan Tradition urges us to focus on the humanity we share rather than on what divides us.“Lucid and accessible…In an age of resurgent nationalism, a study of the idea and ideals of cosmopolitanism is remarkably timely.”—Ryan Patrick Hanley, Journal of the History of Philosophy

In this groundbreaking book, Martha C. Nussbaum brings necessary clarity to the societal challenges of sexual abuse and harassment, illuminating the pride and greed that lead men to objectify and dominate others and the thirst for revenge that can distort the aims of justice. In the context of a clear and bracing legal history of accountability for sexual assault and the legal recognition of sexual harassment, Nussbaum confronts three “citadels of pride”—the judiciary, the arts and sports. Exposing prideful privilege in the intellectual world, unpunished narcissism in the arts, and toxic masculinity and corruption in sports, she discusses egregious cases of male entitlement leading to sexual abuse and exploitation. She examines both successful and unsuccessful efforts to address these situations and proposes solutions. Laying out a hopeful way forward, Nussbaum offers a path to accountability without malice and generosity without capitulation.

'A manifesto for hope' Literary Review From one of the world's most celebrated moral philosophers comes a thorough examination of the current political crisis and recommendations for how to mend a divided country. For decades, Martha C. Nussbaum has been an acclaimed scholar and humanist, earning dozens of honours for her books and essays. In The Monarchy of Fear she turns her attention to the current political crisis that has polarized America since the 2016 election. Although today's atmosphere is marked by partisanship, divisive rhetoric, and the inability of two halves of the country to communicate with one another, Nussbaum focuses on what so many pollsters and pundits have overlooked. She sees a simple truth at the heart of the problem: the political is always emotional. Globalization has produced feelings of powerlessness in millions of people in the West. That sense of powerlessness bubbles into resentment and blame. Blame of immigrants. Blame of Muslims. Blame of other races. Blame of cultural elites. While this politics of blame is exemplified by the election of Donald Trump and the vote for Brexit, Nussbaum argues it can be found on all sides of the political spectrum, left or right. Drawing on a mix of historical and contemporary examples, from classical Athens to the musical Hamilton, The Monarchy of Fear untangles this web of feelings and provides a roadmap of where to go next.

At skabe kapabiliteter er et vigtigt værk i moderne social retfærdighedsteori, skrevet af den internationalt anerkendte filosof og jurist Martha Nussbaum. I værket fremsættes en velunderbygget kritik af de dominerende teorier om menneskelig og samfundsmæssig udvikling, der kun har økonomisk vækst som mål. Nussbaum argumenterer for, at disse teorier producerer politik, der ignorerer de mest elementære menneskelige behov for værdighed og selvrespekt. Nussbaum foreslår et alternativ, hvor vi vurderer et samfunds kvalitet eller udvikling på dets evne til at sikre alle sine borgere væsentlige muligheder, kapabiliteter, over et vist niveau. Denne model til udvikling hen mod et mere socialt retfærdigt samfund kaldes i denne bog kapabilitetstilgangen. Bogen beskriver, hvordan Nussbaum og hendes kolleger har arbejdet med ideer bag og den praktiske tilgang til at skabe kapabiliteter i mere end fire årtier. @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073697537 9 0 511 0;}@font-face {font-family:Baskerville; panose-1:2 2 5 2 7 4 1 2 3 3; mso-font-alt:Baskerville; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-2147483545 33554432 0 0 415 0;}p. MsoNormal, li. MsoNormal, div. MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}. MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}div. WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}

We all age differently, but we can learn from shared experiences and insights. The conversations, or paired essays, in Aging Thoughtfully combine a philosopher's approach with a lawyer-economist's. Here are ideas about when to retire, how to refashion social security to help the elderly poor, how to learn from King Lear -- who did not retire successfully -- and whether to enjoy or criticize anti-aging cosmetic procedures. Some of the concerns are practical: philanthropic decisions, relations with one's children and grandchildren, the purchase of annuities, and how to provide for care in old age. Other topics are cultural, ranging from the treatment of aging women in a Strauss opera and various popular films, to a consideration of Donald Trump's (and other men's) marriages to much younger women. These engaging, thoughtful, and often humorous exchanges show how stimulating discussions about our inevitable aging can be, and offer valuable insight into how we all might age more thoughtfully, and with zest and friendship.

In the United States, people are deeply divided along lines of race, class, political party, gender, sexuality, and religion. Many believe that historical grievances must eventually be left behind in the interest of progress toward a more just and unified society. But too much in American history is unforgivable and cannot be forgotten. How then can we imagine a way to live together that does not expect people to let go of their entrenched resentments? Living with Hate in American Politics and Religion offers an innovative argument for the power of playfulness in popular culture to make our capacity for coexistence imaginable. Jeffrey Israel explores how people from different backgrounds can pursue justice together, even as they play with their divisive grudges, prejudices, and desires in their cultural lives. Israel calls on us to distinguish between what belongs in a raucous “domain of play” and what belongs in the domain of the political. He builds on the thought of John Rawls and Martha Nussbaum to defend the liberal tradition against challenges posed by Frantz Fanon from the left and Leo Strauss from the right. In provocative readings of Lenny Bruce’s stand-up comedy, Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint, and Norman Lear’s All in the Family, Israel argues that postwar Jewish American popular culture offers potent and fruitful examples of playing with fraught emotions. Living with Hate in American Politics and Religion is a powerful vision of what it means to live with others without forgiving or forgetting.