Martha Nussbaum

The capabilities approach asks what people are actually able to do and be, rather than measuring welfare only by income or utility. Nussbaum developed her version alongside debates with economist Amartya Sen.

Women and Human Development, published in 2000, gives one influential version of Nussbaum's central capabilities list. Creating Capabilities, published in 2011, is a shorter introduction for general readers.

Nussbaum argues that emotions are intelligent responses to what people value, not just irrational impulses. Upheavals of Thought, published in 2001, is her major book on emotion, literature, and ethics.

Nussbaum applies ethics to constitutional law, disability, feminism, animal justice, and global development. Frontiers of Justice, published in 2006, extends the capabilities approach beyond the standard social contract model.