Realization Of Goodness:Martha Nussbaum's Understanding Of Ancient Greek Tragedies

Martha Nussbaum,a contemporary American ethicist,is committed to express her ethical claims through literary criticism and The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy is her major writing.In recent years,research on Nussbaum at home and abroad has mainly focused on ethical theory,capability approach,emotional theory,the relationship between poetry and justice,etc.However,the question of why ancient Greek Tragedies become Nussbaum's media for the study on goodness has not yet been resolved.For this reason,this thesis will explore Nussbaum's understanding of the ancient Greek Tragedies with goodness as the object of study.This thesis consists of introduction,body and conclusion.The introduction includes literature review,research questions,approach,and organization of the thesis.On the basis of combing Nussbaum's ethical theory of goodness,a theoretical framework based on logic,practice and character is constructed for this study.The main part of this thesis includes three chapters.The first chapter analyzes Nussbaum's consideration of the relationship between the realization of goodness and the logical consistency contained in her understanding of Agamemnon.Nussbaum thinks that when Agamemnon has made a sinister decision forced by the reality,he gives up the emotional reaction to satisfy the requirement of logical consistency,thus hindering the realization of goodness.The second chapter demonstrates Nussbaum's thoughts on the relationship between the realization of goodness and the practical reason as a subjective factor in the understanding of Antigone.Nussbaum deems that in the sense of practical reason,the problem of Creon and Antigone lies in that they measure all things with a single value criterion,and ignore the flexible requirements of practical reason,thereby hindering the realization of goodness.The third chapter explores Nussbaum's thoughts on the relationship between the realization of goodness and the condition of human character in the understanding of Hecuba.Nussbaum believes that trust is a necessary condition for the formation of good character and the realization of goodness,and the lack of trust leads to Hecuba's failure to achieve goodness.Finally,this thesis concludes that in Nussbaum's literary criticism of the ancient Greek Tragedies,it can be seen that on the one hand,Nussbaum thinks that the realization of goodness is theoretically influenced by the logical consistency,practical reason,and the condition of character.On the other hand,the contradiction between the practical complexity of the realization of goodness and the abstract universality of the ethical theory makes Nussbaum to use the ethical criticism of ancient Greek Tragedies as an effective way of ethical research.