A classicist by training, Nussbaum taught at Harvard and Brown before settling at the University of Chicago. She draws on Aristotle, the Stoics and Greek tragedy to show that a good life depends on luck, emotions and other people. With the economist Amartya Sen she developed the capabilities approach, which asks what each person is actually able to do and to be.
Core ideas
Justice means securing for everyone the real capabilities for a dignified life
Emotions are intelligent judgments about what matters, not blind forces
A good life is fragile, exposed to luck and dependent on others
The tradition: Capabilities approach
The capabilities approach measures justice by what people can actually do and be, not just by income or formal rights. Nussbaum gave it a neo-Aristotelian philosophical foundation.
