Capabilities and Social Justice: The Political Philosophy of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum

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Routledge, Dec 5, 2016 - Philosophy - 200 pages
The capability approach to social justice construes a person's well-being in terms of the substantive freedoms people value. John Alexander engages with the rapidly growing body of literature on the capability approach in economics, inequality, poverty measurement and development studies. Critically assessing Sen and Nussbaum's work in normative economics, social ethics and political philosophy, Alexander develops a unified vision of the capability approach embodying the ideal of creating the greatest possible condition for the realization of basic capabilities for all. He then assesses this vision as a political theory arguing that capabilities are necessary but not sufficient for overcoming conditions of domination. The book calls for a more intimate relationship between individual liberty and the freedom of the political community as a whole.
 

Contents

Cover
Sens Critique of Utilitarianism
Rethinking Rawlsian Justice
Towards a Capability Theory of Justice
The Theory of Broad Consequentialism
The Question of Individual Responsibility
Aristotle and Nussbaums Hybrid Theory
Which Freedom? What Sort of Public
Bibliography
Index

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About the author (2016)

Dr John M. Alexander is Research Fellow at the Centre for Economics and Ethics at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven, Belgium. He also teaches Philosophy and Business Ethics at Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Loyola College (University of Madras), Chennai, India.

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