Flourishing and Welfare

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory S. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Value Pluralism ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Moral Foundation ◽  
A Value ◽  
Consequentialist Theory ◽  
Primary Focus

This chapter argues that the moral end of property is human flourishing, a concept which the author uses in a neo-Aristotelian sense. The bulk of the chapter is devoted to an analysis of the concept of human flourishing. It stresses three points: First, human flourishing, although overlapping at times with the concept of welfare, is fundamentally different from welfare. Second, human flourishing is a value-plural concept, encompassing multiple and incommensurable moral values; hence property has multiple ends. Third, property’s pluralistic moral foundation does not mean that rationality and consistency must be sacrificed when property’s various ends come into conflict. Value pluralism is reconcilable with both rational choice and rule-of-law values such as consistency. The human flourishing theory is a consequentialist theory, but in measuring human flourishing, its primary focus is on capabilities rather than resources, and thus the theory draws upon the capabilities approach of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum.

scholarly journals Rethinking Human Rights through the Language of Capabilities: An Introduction to Capabilities Approach

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Latika Vashist
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Human Rights Discourse

This paper seeks to contrast the language of human rights with capabilities approach conceptualized by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. While capabilities approach is an effective way of comprehending and mplementing the rights guaranteed to people, language of human rights remains the essential pre-requisite for the development and enhancement of people’s capabilities. While both these frameworks for justice operate within the western liberal paradigm, capabilities approach fills in the gaps of modern human rights discourse. The new idea of justice that accords a central place to human dignity mandates that the human rights entrenched in the Constitution be read as capabilities. The desperate vacuum that exists between the promises of law and realities of existence can only be bridged by institutionalizing a blend of rights and capabilities in the pursuit of justice. The paper argues that the language of human rights and that of capabilities ought to supplement and complement each other for true human flourishing

Capabilities, Freedom, and Severe Poverty

2020 ◽  
pp. 198-213
Author(s):  
Thom Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Global Justice ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Basic Needs ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Human Flourishing

Severe poverty is a key challenge for theorists of global justice. Most theorists have approached this issue primarily by developing accounts for understanding which kinds of duties have relevance and how responsibilities for tackling severe poverty might be assigned to agents, whether individuals, nations, or states. All such views share a commitment to ending severe poverty as a wrongful deprivation with a profoundly negative impact on affected individuals. While much attention has prioritized identifying reasons for others to provide relief, this chapter examines the nature of the wrongful deprivation that characterizes severe poverty. One influential view is championed by Martha Nussbaum in her distinctive capabilities approach. An individual might be considered to experience severe poverty where she is unable to enjoy the use of the capabilities which should be available to her. But this position raises several questions. Take the fact that about 1 billion people are unable to meet their basic needs today. Would the capabilities approach claim the number is much higher given its wider grasp of human flourishing beyond mere material subsistence—and what implications would flow from this? Or would the capabilities approach claim only a portion of those unable to meet their basic needs are in a wrongful state because their circumstances are a result of free choice—and what would this mean? These questions indicate a potential concern about whether the approach is over- or underinclusive and why.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
K. Seeta Prabhu ◽  
Sandhya S. Iyer
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
A Value ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Conceptual Evolution ◽  
Development Paradigm

This chapter traces the historical context within which the conceptual evolution of the human development and capabilities approach took place. It highlights the fact that the human development paradigm brought back to development a value-based concept that focused on the Aristotelian notion of human flourishing, thereby transcending the narrow interpretation dominated by economic growth. This chapter also compares the human development approach with other people-centric approaches, such as Human Resource Development (HDR), Basic Needs, Human Rights, and Human Security. The human development paradigm assumes renewed relevance for the twenty-first century world that is at the crossroads, plagued by the multidimensional challenges of inequality, environmental degradation, and increased vulnerabilities.

scholarly journals Considerazioni etiche sul tema della qualità della vita: l’Approccio delle Capacità di Martha Nussbaum

2005 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppina D’Addelfio
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Rational Animal ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Difficult Situations

Nel presente articolo viene affrontato il tema della qualità della vita. Dopo una breve ricostruzione dell’origine di questa espressione e un esame dei contesti in cui più frequentemente essa ricorre, viene presentato l’Approccio che Amartya Sen e Martha Nussbaum hanno elaborato e su cui continuano a lavorare per misurare la qualità della vita in differenti nazioni: l’approccio delle Capacità. In particolare viene presentata l’elaborazione di Martha Nussbaum con la sua lista delle capacità. Sulla base della sua radice aristotelica, questa lista lascia intravedere un’immagine dell’essere umano come un animale razionale fragile e dipendente, in più momenti della sua vita bisognoso di cure. Dunque per quanto l’autonomia sia considerata una meta significativa da raggiungere e proteggere, essa non diventa l’unico fondamento della dignità dell’uomo. Quest’idea, insieme al tema della deformazione dei desideri e delle aspettative in situazioni di difficoltà, offre interessanti spunti alla riflessione bioetica, configurando l’esigenza di qualità della vita come strettamente legata al riconoscimento del suo intrinseco valore e della sua sacralità. ---------- In this article the author deals with the “Quality of Life” issue. After a brief history of the origin of this expression and an exam of the main contexts in which it is used, the approach that Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have been shaping, in order to mesure the Quality of Life in different nations - the Capabilities Approach -, is presented. In particular the author focuses on Nussbaum’s account and on her list of capabilities. On the basis of its Aristotelian root, the list shows an idea of human being as a vulnerable and dependent rational animal - so that he/she needs care, in different moments of his/her life. Hence, autonomy is recognized as a valuable thing to pursue and preserve, but it is not considered as the only ground of human dignity. This issue, with the one of the deformation of preferences and expectations due to difficult situations, gives precious suggestions to bioethics. Namely, the istance of the “Quality of Life” is stressed as closely linked with the recognition of its intrinsic value and sacredness.

The Perfectionist Turn

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Den Uyl ◽  
Douglas Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Ethical Thinking ◽  
Stephen Darwall ◽  
Do So

Contemporary political philosophy—especially the works of Martha Nussbaum, John Rawls, and Amartya Sen—has assumed it can in various ways separate itself from more comprehensive philosophical positions and frameworks, and much of contemporary ethics—especially the works of Gerald Gaus and Stephen Darwall—has assumed that ethics can be based on a legislative or juridical model. Den Uyl and Rasmussen challenge both these trends. They do so by amplifying an account of human flourishing, which they call “individualistic perfectionism,” that they presented in their earlier work, Norms of Liberty. They continue to challenge the assumption that a neo-Aristotelian ethical framework cannot support a liberal, non-perfectionist political theory by describing in greater detail the nature of the perfectionist ethical approach they utilized in their previous political theorizing. They show that individualistic perfectionism represents a major and powerful alternative to much contemporary ethical thinking.

Equity: Policy Rhetoric or a Matter of Meaning of Knowledge? Towards a Framework for Tracing the ‘Efficiency-Equity’ Doctrine in Curriculum Documents

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 731-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ninni Wahlström
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Knowledge Acquisition ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Equity Policy

In this article, the focus is on exploring the perspective of equity in curriculum. From a background of understanding curriculum as embedded in wider transnational policy movements, in this article the author suggests a framework for exploring the trajectories between equity policy and different types of curricula with implications for what counts as knowledge, drawing on the capabilities approach developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. The analysis highlights the instrumental, intrinsic and positional values in terms of actual functionings, expanding the individual's set of capabilities and a pluralistic learning environment. The results suggest that the technical form of the curriculum can have determining effects on the meaning of knowledge acquisition and that the capabilities approach offers an important frame of analysis for understanding how different aspects of equity are included or excluded in curriculum.

scholarly journals Justice and the politics of capabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-178
Author(s):  
Hrvoje Cvijanović
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Primary Goods ◽  
The Given ◽  
Theoretical Project

Linking the idea of justice with human dignity through the 'politics of capabilities' is a recent theoretical project advanced by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and inspired by the shortcomings of Rawls's understanding of justice. Rawls's view on the redistribution of resources or primary goods has nothing to say about someone's capabilities to use these goods, so the idea of capabilities becomes central since it is focused on the way of life a person has a reason to value. The article discusses Sen and Nussbaum's development of the capabilities approach and their criticism of Rawls's fundamental premises about justice. Although the capabilities approach attempts to rectify injustices that Rawls failed to address properly, there are limitations of that approach as well. At the end, it is shown that capabilities are valued in relation to their contribution to the system of production – having more capabilities enhances someone's socio-economic position within the given structure – but this does not question the existing power relations and the very structure that perpetuate inequalities. Hence, the author agrees with the line of criticism that invokes the issue of power relations provided by Vicente Navarro, yet extending this criticism to Rawls's theory of justice for not fundamentally questioning the power relations inherent in the institutions reproducing social injustices.

scholarly journals The Sport for All Ideal: A Tool for Enhancing Human Capabilities and Dignity

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Human Capabilities ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
The Impact

AbstractSport, as a child of modernity, is intertwined with typically modern elements, such as the search for universality, competition, and the fascination for measurement. As modernity is essentially defined, in legal and moral terms, as a search for universally grounded moral principles or basic human rights, modern sports are widely seen as a means to promote typically modern values such as dignity. This paper conceives of the term "dignity" in light of the capabilities approach upheld by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen. According to these authors, dignity is conferred according to certain human basic capabilities that we all are entitled to. This is the reason why this article explores how sport can be a tool for enhancing and exercising such human capabilities. In so doing, I shall argue that the Sport for All ideal provides us with a normative proposal to achieve such a task since it embodies the basic spirit and ethical goals of our modern society. Moreover, connecting the promotion of dignity to the capabilities approach will allow us not just to use sport as a means for development, but also to provide us with specific criteria to evaluate the impact of sport in the wider society regarding the promotion of people‘s dignity.

scholarly journals To thrive in these times: capabilities, negativity, and the pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 4-17
Author(s):  
Edward Ryan Teather-Posadas
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Slavoj Zizek ◽  
Slavoj Žižek ◽  
The World ◽  
The Capability Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare many of the inadequacies of our capitalist systems, as Zizek extols in Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World (2020). This essay explores how the capabilities approach, as outlined by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, may be re-examined in the light of this new viral reality by the contributions of Slavoj Zizek and Byung-Chul Han. The capability approach, as it stands, suffers from two missing pieces: that of an acknowledgement of the necessity of negativity as a foil to positivity within the capabilities as articulated by Nussbaum, and the existence of the material root of all capabilities, namely the need to have the capacity to be capable. A "capability for boredom", and a "zeroth capability" are discussed as solutions, means by which to fill these gaps. Finally, an universal basic income is discussed as a means by which to support the functioning of a "zeroth capability", the goal being to avoid a descent into bare life during this time of pandemic capitalism. Teather-Posadas E.R. To thrive in these times: capabilities, negativity, and the pandemic // International Journal of Zizek Stu-dies. 2021. Vol. 15. №1.

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