Upheavals of Thought

What is it to grieve for the death of a parent? More literary and experiential than other philosopical works on emotion Upheavals of Thought will engage the reader who has ever stopped to ask that question. Emotions such as grief fear anger and love seem to be alien forces that disturb our thoughts and plans. Yet they also embody some of our deepest thoughts--about the importance of the people we love about the vulnerability of our bodies and our plans to events beyond our control. In this wide-ranging book based on her Gifford Lectures philosopher Martha Nussbaum draws on philosophy psychology anthropology music and literature to illuminate the role emotions play in our thoughts about important goals. Starting with an account of her own mother''s death she argues that emotions are intelligent appraisals of a world that we do not control in the light of our own most significant goals and plans. She then investigates the implications of this idea for normative issues analyzing the role of compassion in private and public reasoning and the attempts of authors both philosophical and literary to purify or reform the emotion of erotic love. Ultimately she illuminates the structure of emotions and argues that once we understand the complex intelligence of emotions we will also have new reasons to value works of literature as sources of ethical education. Martha C. Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics University of Chicago appointed in Law School Philosophy department and Divinity School and an Associate in Classics. A leading scholar in ancient Greek ethics aesthetics and literature her previous books include The Fragility of Goodness (Cambridge 1986) Loves''s Knowledge (Oxford 1992) Poetic Justice (Beacon Press 1997) The Therapy of Desire (Princeton 1996) Cultivating Humanity (Harvard 1997) and Sex and Social Justice (Oxford 1999). Her reviews have appeared in the New York Times Boston Globe New York Review of Books and New Republic.