Justice and Mercy: Recent Catholic Teaching and Martha Nussbaum’s Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice

Abstract

This article compares the understanding of mercy in recent Catholic theology and Church teaching with the concept of compassion in recent writings of Martha Nussbaum. It considers the implications of this comparison for the understanding of justice in public life, and the contrast between “external” and “internal” transcendence in Nussbaum’s thought in relation to a Biblical vision of divine mercy.