Martha Nussbaum

Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, with appointments in the Department of Philosophy and the Law School. She is also an Associate in the Classics Department, the Divinity School, and the Department of Political Science, and a Member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies. Nussbaum received her B.A. in Classics from New York University in 1969, M.A. in Classical Philology in 1971, and Ph.D. in Classical Philology in 1975, all from Harvard University, where she was also a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows from 1972 to 1975. Her academic career includes teaching positions at Harvard University (1975-1983), Brown University (1984-1995), and visiting professorships at Oxford University and other institutions. From 1986 to 1993, while at Brown, she served as a research advisor at the World Institute for Development Economics Research in Helsinki, part of the United Nations University. She joined the University of Chicago in 1995.

Professor Nussbaum is internationally renowned for her contributions to ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, feminist philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy and the arts, emotions, and the capabilities approach to justice. She has authored numerous influential books, including Aristotle's De Motu Animalium (1978), The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy (1986, updated 2000), Love's Knowledge (1990), Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach (2000), Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (2006), Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016), The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis (2018), Citadels of Pride: Sexual Abuse, Accountability, and Reconciliation (2021), Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility (2023), and The Tenderness of Silent Minds: Benjamin Britten and his War Requiem (2024). She has edited twenty-seven books and published over 500 articles. Nussbaum has received prestigious awards such as the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy (2016), Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture (2018), Holberg Prize (2021), and Balzan Prize (2022), along with honorary degrees from sixty-nine colleges and universities worldwide. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Philosophical Society, and an Academician in the Academy of Finland. She has chaired committees of the American Philosophical Association, served as its Central Division President (1999-2000), and holds editorial positions including Associate Editor of Ethics.

Professional Email: martha_nussbaum@law.uchicago.edu