Summary Of Martha Nussbaum's 'Therapy Of Desire'

I am going to be analyzing some of Epicurus' main thoughts on human nature in The Therapy of Desire by Martha Nussbaum. I will examine and assess what Epicurus thinks human nature is made of, what goes wrong, and how we can find freedom. Our human nature is based from our natural, uncorrupted desires while the empty desires cause destruction but we can eliminate them and thus remove misery by distinguishing them. I will now look at a passage focusing on Epicurus' ideas by Martha Nussbaum. "Epicurus is suggesting that we come into the world as healthy living creatures, our faculties operating reliably and without blemish. But shortly after this we encounter external forces that corrupt and confuse us. These influences take hold of something from the world outside; and they enslave us as time goes on. We know already what some of these influences are: religious superstitions that teach us to fear of the gods and of death; love stories that complicate our natural sexual appetite; conversations all around us glorifying wealth and power. Epicurus' core idea

These external forces from the social world misguide and confuse our desires. Nussbaum explains that Epicurus believes that when empty desires consume our minds, is when our suffering begins (Nussbaum, pg. 105). The suffering is brought about because we are never satisfied by the empty desires and the end goal is usually unattainable. The problem is how we can differentiate the false beliefs from our natural desires since we often do not realize these false influences are not actually part of us. We need to separate the passions cause by external forces from our healthy and uncorrupted desires because listening to the demands from empty desires causes a lack of rest since we are constantly chasing things that do not satisfy