Envy, propelled by fear, can be even more toxic than anger, because it involves the thought that other people enjoy the good things of life which the envier can't hope to attain through hard work and emulation.
Martha NussbaumRead
Look at the great tradition of Western political philosophy. Those people were all immersed in revolutionary movements. Most weren't career academics - often, they were too radical to be accepted in the academy. Rousseau's books were banned. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill couldn't hold academic positions because they were atheists.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the connection between revolutionary thought and political philosophy, emphasizing that many influential philosophers were marginalized by the academic establishment.
Martha Nussbaum points out that many of the key figures in Western political philosophy emerged from revolutionary contexts, often facing rejection from academic institutions due to their radical ideas or personal beliefs. This serves to illustrate how revolutionary movements can give rise to profound philosophical insights, suggesting that true progress often comes from outside traditional academic boundaries.
Themes
PhilosophyRevolutionPoliticsAcademiaRadicalism
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the role of philosophers in social movements, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of revolutionary ideas.
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I find so often, you know, just on a very mundane level; you've got a meeting and your child's acting in a school play. You can't do both things. And it's not simply that you can't do both, but whatever you do, you're going to be neglecting something that's really important.
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There is no reason why an American scholar cannot by himself or herself develop an adequate understanding of another culture. And I don't find any reason to suppose that the birth within a culture automatically confers understanding.
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