Nussbaum’s View of Philosophy

Nussbaum’s main point is that philosophy should not only be used by elite philosophers, but should be made available to the general public. Philosophy has many more uses than just “intellectual/academic exercise” (Soccio). Philosophy is not just exercise, but a way of life where you can incorporate both reason and emotion. Nussbaum alludes to the fact that philosophy’s unique skills are meant to help us express our experiences, situations, or emotions in a way that releases some of the unhappiness we obtain from them thereby guiding us towards better lives (Soccio). Along with it being used to guide one to a better life, it can also be used to provide a way to free one’s mind or emotions, while being reasonable. In many ways I do the opposite of what Nussbaum is recommending. I tend to look at philosophy as mainly academic or reason and tend to look at emotions separately. This is much like my view of the world sometimes. If one were to look at the world with both reason and emotion it would make more sense; much like philosophy. Nussbaum believes that you should not have one without the other. I think mainly because you would not get the full picture. The type of changes Nussbaum would have me make to both my beliefs and how I love, would be to not look at philosophy as just reason or just emotion, but to look at philosophy with a combined view of both. By doing this it could improve my beliefs, improve my way of thinking, and improve how I live.

If we look at philosophy the way Nussbaum suggests, with both emotion and reason, we can improve our beliefs. With both reason and emotion in mind, philosophy can amplify our thoughtfulness for universal moral values and encourage our willingness to stand up for the moralities of fairne...

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...ecome very dull and there would be no beliefs. Our emotions are constructed as a result of our judgments and beliefs, and our judgments and beliefs are created through our way of thinking which in turn is impacted by philosophy of some sort.

Although I do not think I have done justice to the importance of Nussbaum’s view of philosophy or all the ways it has/ will change my life, I have discussed three ways that it has impacted me by helping me to improve my beliefs, improve my way of thinking, and improve how I live. I have even indirectly discussed how philosophy itself can be improved with Nussbaum’s view of philosophy. I am not a perfectly ethical person, I am critical by nature, a few of my beliefs could be improved, and my way of thinking is not always clear. With Nussbaum’s view of philosophy and philosophy itself, I have been inspired to change these things.