Aging Thoughtfully : Conversations about Retirement, Romance, Wrinkles, and Regret - Martha C. Nussbaum

Aging Thoughtfully

Conversations about Retirement, Romance, Wrinkles, and Regret

By: Martha C. Nussbaum, Saul Levmore

Hardcover | 25 January 2018

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Aging brings distinctive discoveries and challenges, as well as difficulties. People age in many different ways, but we can learn from shared experiences and insights. Instead of thinking about this stage of life as a time to wilt, we need to think boldly and carefully about the active living that we can do for an increasing number of years. The conversations, or paired essays, in this book juxtapose a philosopher's approach with that of a lawyer-economist. There are ideas about when to retire, how to refashion social security to help the elderly poor, how to learn from King Lear - who failed to retire successfully, and whether to enjoy or criticize anti-aging cosmetic procedures. Some questions are very general: What is friendship as we age? What becomes of love and sex? What goals should a decent public policy have toward aging citizens?

Some of the ideas are more immediately practical; the essays deal with philanthropic decisions, relations with one's children and grandchildren, the purchase of annuities, and how to provide for care in old age. And some of the ideas are just interesting; they include the treatment of aging women in a Strauss opera and in many films, as well as some consideration of Donald Trump's marriages to much younger women. The overall goal is to show how much fun discussion about aging can be and, in the end, how to age thoughtfully and encourage one's parents and friends to do so as well.
Industry Reviews
"Nussbaum and Levmore have written a sweet book on 'humanomics,' deploying economics, law, philosophy, and literature, to craft a multidisciplinary guide to aging. They show that the stories imagined for our lives and our societies give us purchase in a way that science or history cannot quite. Wise in age themselves, Nussbaum and Levmore know full well that tips handed over on a plate like canapés cannot be the point. Old and young need this book." -Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, UIC Distinguished Professor of Economics and of History Emerita, University of Illinois Chicago "Aging Thoughtfully advances that goal, portraying the aging process as both universal and utterly idiosyncratic, and urging us to learn from each other and our shared history."--Los Angeles Review of Books "Not just good but very good... Nussbaum and Levmore are as interested in asking the right questions as they are with notching the right answers."--Dwight Garner, New York Times "These paired essays really are a conversation - thoughtful, penetrating, and hopeful - between Nussbaum (one of our wisest, smartest writers) and economist and lawyer Levmore."--Philadelphia Inquirer "Nussbaum and Levmore provide important points for combating ageism while honoring the many changes that accompany aging. Aging Thoughtfully promises to provoke thoughtful discussion, especially among those at the cusp of older adulthood."--Christian Century "Smart [and] provocative."--New Yorker

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