The lecture was about the nature of mercy. As she often does, she argued
that certain moral truths are best expressed in the form of a story. We
become merciful, she wrote, when we behave as the "concerned reader of a
novel," understanding each person's life as a "complex narrative of
human effort in a world full of obstacles."
-- Rachel Aviv, "The Philosopher Of Feelings"
a Profile of Martha Nussbaum. New Yorker
(July 25, 2016 Issue).
Nussbaum argued that Rawls gave an unsatisfactory account of justice for
people dependent on others--the disabled, the elderly, and women
subservient in their homes. For a society to remain stable and committed
to democratic principles, she argued, it needs more than detached moral
principles: it has to cultivate certain emotions and teach people to
enter empathetically into others' lives. She believes that the
humanities are not just important to a healthy democratic society but
decisive, shaping its fate. She proposed an enhanced version of John
Stuart Mill's "aesthetic education"--emotional refinement for all
citizens through poetry and music and art. "Respect on its own is cold
and inert, insufficient to overcome the bad tendencies that lead human
beings to tyrannize over one another," she wrote. "Public culture cannot
be tepid and passionless."
-- Rachel Aviv, "The Philosopher Of Feelings"
a Profile of Martha Nussbaum. New Yorker
(July 25, 2016 Issue).