Quote

Philosophers should be, as Seneca put it, 'lawyers for humanity'. Make what you think and feel count the examined life has global dimensions.

Martha C. Nussbaum

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Martha C. Nussbaum
Life
Global
Seneca
Philosophy
Examined
Humanity
Lawyers
Feel
Philosophers
Feels
Dimensions
Make
Count
Think
Lawyer
Thinking
Philosopher

More quotes by Martha C. Nussbaum

Image
To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
The great philosophers of the past who wrote so beautifully - Rousseau, John Stuart Mill - had to write beautifully because they had to sell their work to journals. They had to sell books to the general public because they could not hold positions in universities. Mill was an atheist, and, therefore, could not hold a position in a university.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
In our swamp of media sensationalism and group-speak, BOSTON REVIEW stands out as a bold voice for reason and argument, one of the very, very few places that offers intelligence, integrity, and variety.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
I do think there's a lot of bad writing, and I worry about that in philosophy. I worry about it even more in literary studies, but I wouldn't blame it on any one methodology.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
If you really do want to increase women's status, you could focus on just that, but you'd probably better focus also on women's education. Access to artificial contraception, I would say, is also a very important determinant of women's status.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Choice matters. You might have the opportunity to eat a nutritious diet, though you might choose to eat a lousy diet. What matters is the opportunity.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
I think we need government to play a part in having a health policy that makes nursing care available for the increasing numbers who are going to need it.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Our emotional life maps our incompleteness: A creature without any needs would never have reasons for fear, or grief, or hope, or anger.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
People don't just want to feel satisfied. They actually want to act.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
When a profession is protected by academic freedom and tenure, it tends to turn inward. To a large extent that's good.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Notice that all the traditional things philosophers do, looking for validity and soundness, promote civic friendship. That sounds pretty pie in the sky, yes, but I actually believe it.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Today, I think, the state of philosophizing about democracy is very healthy. It bridges political science and philosophy, as it should.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
People have a deep need to be legislators, and the idea of autonomy has become very precious.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Knowledge is no guarantee of good behavior, but ignorance is a virtual guarantee of bad behavior.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Economists get impatient with philosophy. They are often trained as skilled mathematicians. They don't like going back to ordinary language and first principles.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
TV has a lot of problems, but I think the Internet and social media have a lot more. Under the cover of anonymity people say the most vicious things.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
The great tragedy in the new feminist theory in America is the loss of a sense of public commitment.... Hungry women are not fed by this, battered women are not sheltered by it, raped women do not find justice in it, gays and lesbians do not achieve legal protections through it.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
There's a gap in perceptions between women and men. Women feel much freer than they did, but still, when alcohol is involved, especially, there's a lot of sexual assault, and a lot of confusion about that. So, we need to focus a lot more on what consent is and on the importance of affirmative consent.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
Nudity quickly becomes unremarkable when generally practiced.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Image
I am a very big fan of the nation, actually. In Cicero's time, there was this idea that although we were members of the whole world of human beings, we also needed to connect our imaginations to a smaller unit. The smaller unit was something we knew we could live or die for, as Cicero died for the Roman republic.
Martha C. Nussbaum