The Fragility of Trust and the Complexity of Being Good

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Trusting people and things not under our control forms the basis of our moral life. When this trust is shattered, it can lead to a retreat into vengeance and a transformation into something less human. The play's metaphor of turning the character into a dog symbolizes her sacrifice of an important part of herself. This transformation is not because she's a bad person, but because she's a good person who deeply stakes her moral life on friendships. The play suggests that being good means being open to the world and having the ability to trust uncertain things, which can leave us morally destroyed in extreme circumstances beyond our control.

Today we talk about the lessons found in the ancient Greek play titled Hecuba. We talk about the great Stoic ethicists Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. We talk about Martha Nussbaum and her work looking to infuse classical Stoic ideas with all that we've learned in the sciences over thousands of years. We talk about compassion. Shame and guilt. Her capabilities approach. It's a whole lot of fun for the whole family. :)