Martha Nussbaum and the Teaching of the Humanities

The paper aims to analyze from the perspective of liberal democracy the concept of humanistic education within the thought of Martha Nussbaum in order to establish some civic competences within democratic practice. In order to achieve such a purpose, the paper is divided in two moments: first, it identifies the concept of humanistic education in Martha Nussbaum's thought in relation to liberal democracy; second, within the framework of humanistic formation it establishes the civic competences required for democratic practice. Based on the theoretical contributions of contemporary thinkers such as Morin, Sartori, Marsh and Stoker, the paper links the categories of humanistic education, liberal democracy and civic competences. Finally, by demarcating the reach of the paper within the field of the political studies, particularly within the normative theory and political liberalism, the purpose of the paper is not to elaborate an education theory or a pedagogical model that explains the different didactic strategies of the teaching of humanities, but to reflect on the role played by the humanistic formation in a liberal democracy. Therefore, from the perspective of political theory the paper aims to offer to academia an analysis on the concept of humanistic education within liberal democracy from the perspective of Nussbaum's philosophy.