Martha Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, appointed in the Philosophy Department, Law School and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. Nussbaum has been a member of the Council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Board of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Her 1986 book, The Fragility of Goodness, on ancient ethics made her a well-known figure throughout the humanities. Nussbaum is a scholar with incredible breadth who has engaged in many spirited debates with other intellectuals, both in the pages of popular magazines and book reviews as well as when testifying as an expert witness in court. Recently, she has focused on arguments concerning the rights of other animal species, in her books Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions (edited with Cass Sunstein) (2004) and Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (2005).

Professor Nussbaum delivered the following address at the 2007 ASC conference. Geoffrey Harpham, director of the National Humanities Center, and Alex Rosenberg, Professor of Philosophy at Duke University, introduce the talk. Frans de Waal delivers a response.