The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy

By Martha C. Nussbaum

Book Overview

This book is a study of ancient views about moral luck. It examines the fundamental ethical problem that many of the valued constituents of a well-lived life are vulnerable to factors outside a person's control, and asks how this affects our appraisal of persons and their lives. The Greeks made a profound contribution to these questions, yet neither the problems nor the Greek views of them have received the attention they deserve. This updated edition contains a new preface.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521794722
• ISBN13: 9780521794725
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 1.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Interesting exploration of contingency in human happiness

I am not a classics scholar, so I am not fit to judge the opinions of others stated here that Nussbaum 'misreads' the works of ancient philosophers. Nevertheless, in my reading of Nussbaum's works I do not see any evidence to suggest Nussbaum is being careless in her exegesis and interpretation of the works of ancient philosophy. Her thesis is quite interesting and intricate, and based around the examination of attempts...

What were they reading?

In this book, Ms. Nussbaum takes on one of the most challenging and heart-rending questions raised by the ancient poets and philosophers: what is the relationship between goodness (good character, right action) and having a good life (happiness, human flourishing)?With the tragedians, and against some of the philosophers (notably Plato), Ms. Nussbaum considers the possibility that right action and right thinking cannot...

A different read

There are two ways one might approach the Fragility of Goodness. One might approach the text in search of careful exegesis of classical texts. If this is one's aim, one will probably be disappointed with what Nussbaum provides in this book. On the other hand, one might approach the text in search of a thought-provoking discussion of important issues in moral and political philosophy. If the latter is one's concern, then...

Brilliant, searching, essential.

Anyone interested in Greek philosophy and literature should read this wonderful book. Nussbaum is the only scholar-philosopher working today with an understanding of the complex and challenging ideas of these texts as well as their literary forms and historical contexts. This book, along with Bruno Snell's "The Discovery of the Mind," is required reading for any student of Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek tragedians ...