Martha Nussbaum is a distinguished contemporary philosopher who has written in exemplary fashion on ancient philosophy and philosophy of literature; she has also produced important work in social and political philosophy, philosophy of mind and feminist thought. This book on emotions, law and the idea of a liberal society shows some of the strain of that industry: it is prolix and a little uneven. But it also has the characteristics of her best work: sparkling clarity, high learning, intellectual vigour and something to say. The scope, the confidence – the grasp of it all – astonishes.

Nussbaum’s chief purpose here is to essay the psychological foundations of political liberalism, a purpose she realises indirectly, in the main, by criticising anti-liberal positions on the relations between emotions, law and polity. Some recent debate on these relations has focused on the role of disgust and shame in criminal law, and these debates are at the centre of the book; but since disgust and shame are complex emotions and have many kin – indignation, anger, guilt etc. – which also trench upon the law, and since the character of a society is deeply defined by its laws, Nussbaum has to work a very large canvas indeed.