Art as a Place of Mediation in the Thought of Martha C. Nussbaum

Towards the acceptance of one's own and others' humanity

Abstract

Nussbaum has been accused of instrumentalizing artistic work and undermining philosophical rigor with her project of a marriage between moral philosophy and literature. These voices, far from being residual in the debate that has made the thinker famous, show the innovative nature of her ideas for American Analytics. We believe that Nussbaum’s conception of art – which corroborates the philosopher’s cognitive-valuative theory of emotions –, as a transitional object and a site for the recognition of a common humanity, allows the criticism to be refuted. Also, it goes much further, legitimizing and substantiating a reading of the artwork as a space of relationship with one’s interiority and otherness.