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Review: Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law

Review: Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law Book Reviews 439 Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law, by Martha C. Nussbaum. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004 . Pp. xv + 413 . H/b £19 .95 . This book, Nussbaum says, is ‘about the psychological foundations of liberal- ism’ (p. 16 ). It ‘constructs a public myth of equal humanity, to substitute for other pernicious myths that have long guided us’ (p. 17 ). She understands by ‘a liberal society, one based on the recognition of the equal dignity of each indi- vidual, and the vulnerabilities inherent in a common humanity’ (p. 18 ). The ‘idea of vulnerability is closely connected to the idea of emotion’ because ‘emotions are responses to … vulnerability … in which we register the dam- ages we have suffered, might suffer, or … failed to suffer.’ We ‘need law pre- cisely because we are vulnerable to harm and damage in many ways’ (p. 6 ). According to Nussbaum, then, the ideas of vulnerability, emotion, and law are intertwined, and one aim of the book is to give an account of their connec- tions. Her account is intended to replace the prevailing pernicious myths about emotions in general and disgust and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Mind Oxford University Press

Review: Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law

Mind , Volume 114 (454) – Apr 1, 2005

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© Mind Association 2005
ISSN
0026-4423
eISSN
1460-2113
DOI
10.1093/mind/fzi439
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Book Reviews 439 Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law, by Martha C. Nussbaum. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004 . Pp. xv + 413 . H/b £19 .95 . This book, Nussbaum says, is ‘about the psychological foundations of liberal- ism’ (p. 16 ). It ‘constructs a public myth of equal humanity, to substitute for other pernicious myths that have long guided us’ (p. 17 ). She understands by ‘a liberal society, one based on the recognition of the equal dignity of each indi- vidual, and the vulnerabilities inherent in a common humanity’ (p. 18 ). The ‘idea of vulnerability is closely connected to the idea of emotion’ because ‘emotions are responses to … vulnerability … in which we register the dam- ages we have suffered, might suffer, or … failed to suffer.’ We ‘need law pre- cisely because we are vulnerable to harm and damage in many ways’ (p. 6 ). According to Nussbaum, then, the ideas of vulnerability, emotion, and law are intertwined, and one aim of the book is to give an account of their connec- tions. Her account is intended to replace the prevailing pernicious myths about emotions in general and disgust and

Journal

MindOxford University Press

Published: Apr 1, 2005

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