Martha Nussbaum

 The Event

Martha Nussbaum

Upheavals of Thought -The Intelligence of Emotions

22 March 2005

Everybody who thinks that philosophy is a stuffy dull science practised by absent-minded professors now has the chance to cure this misconception once and for all by getting acquainted with the ideas of Martha Nussbaum.
Martha Nussbaum isn’t an abstract scientist who occupies herself with the universe and metaphysics. She is in touch with daily life. The underlying assumptions to her ideas are rooted in human emotions. According to Nussbaum, emotions are not irritating upheavals to be mastered at all costs, but sensible reactions to everything that is of importance to us.
Martha Nussbaum is professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. Upheavals of Thought , her magnum opus, was recently translated into Dutch (“Oplevingen van het denken”) and published by Ambo Publishers.
In the Netherlands she came into the public eye with her appearance in the television documentary “Van de schoonheid en de troost”. She is an honorary professor at many international universities including the University of Utrecht.

Context

The Speaker:

Martha Craven Nussbaum (born May 6, 1947) is an Americanphilosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, a chair that includes appointments in the philosophy department and the law school. She has a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political philosophy, feminism, and ethics, including animal rights.

She also holds associate appointments in classics, divinity and political science, is a member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and a board member of the Human Rights Program. She previously taught at Harvard and Brown.^[1]

Nussbaum is the author or editor of a number of books, including The Fragility of Goodness (1986), Sex and Social Justice (1998), The Sleep of Reason (2002), Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law (2004), Animal Rights (2004, co-editor with Cass Sunstein), and Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (2006).

source text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Nussbaum

Media:

University of Chicago Profile on Nussbaum

The Guardian’s Q&A with Nussbaum

The New York Times Review for Upheavals of Thought

“First Things” Review of Upheavals

Book TV with Nussbaum:

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