“The humanities prepare students to be good citizens and help them understand a complicated, interlocking world. The humanities teach us critical thinking, how to analyze arguments, and how to imagine life from the point of view of someone unlike yourself.” ThinkingWorldHelpingHumanityViewsTeachImagineStudentsCitizensArgumentComplicatedCriticalPoint Of ViewBe GoodCritical ThinkingGood Citizen Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“I think the imagination helps us move out of the purely oppositional mentality and see the world in a richer and more variegated way.” ThinkingWorldWayHelpingMovingImaginationMentality Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“There are no general-interest media that all of us can tap into. I'm not a good person to talk to about social media. I just avoid it. I'm suspicious also of the culture of venting. But the bigger question is, How can we in this media world have a genuine civic conversation? I mean, look at Franklin Roosevelt. He had these radio talks that all Americans listened to, and there was a common civic conversation that came out of it.” WorldLooksMeanPersonsCultureSocialInterestCommonMediaConversationBiggerRadioSocial MediaGenuineSuspiciousGood PersonCivicsFranklinVenting Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“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.” WorldHumansIdeasWholeBigsDiesNationsImaginationHuman BeingsFansNeededMembersDiedWhole WorldRepublicUnits Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“With the rise of capitalism, it became more obvious that people pursue individual self-interest. The great nationalist in Italy, Giuseppe Mazzini, a wonderful philosopher, said that we need the nation. We need something that people can lean on, from which they can then reach out to the whole world. The idea of all humanity is too vague. It can't motivate human aspiration in a reliable way.” PeopleWorldWayNeedsHumansSaidIdeasSelfWholeHumanityIndividualNationsInterestWonderfulCapitalismPhilosopherObviousWhole WorldPursueAspirationReach OutVagueSelf Interest Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“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, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something very important about the condition of the ethical life: that it is based on a trust in the uncertain and on a willingness to be exposed; it’s based on being more like a plant than like a jewel, something rather fragile, but whose very particular beauty is inseparable from that fragility.” WorldHumansKindImportantHuman BeingsAbilityRiskConditionsParticularCircumstancesBlamePlantExtremesWillingnessEthicalOpennessFragileExposedUncertainJewelsShatteredInseparableFragilityGood Human BeingFragility Of Life Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“Disgust relies on moral obtuseness. It is possible to view another human being as a slimy slug or a piece of revolting trash only if one has never made a serious good-faith attempt to see the world through that person’s eyes or to experience that person’s feelings. Disgust imputes to the other a subhuman nature. How, by contrast, do we ever become able to see one another as human? Only through the exercise of imagination.” IfsWorldHumansPersonsMadeFeelingsEyeAbleImaginationHuman BeingsViewsMoralPiecesSeriousExerciseRelyContrastDisgustingTrashGood FaithSlugs Book:From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law Source: From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law
“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.” WorldHumansKindHuman BeingsAbilityOpennessUncertainFragilityGood Human Being Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
