The Capabilities Approach as a Foundation for an Ethical-Political Theory of the Good
The capabilities approach has seen significant development over the past quarter century, branching out into a variety of fields and directions. Originally developed by Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum has sought to extend this approach beyond its mainly instrumental role into a tangible foundation for a full-fledged ethical-political theory of the good. However, this move has attracted a great number of criticisms levelled against Nussbaum’s specific version of the capabilities approach. In this thesis, I identify three main groups of observations under which said criticisms can be classified, and assess their respective strength and tenability.
Sen Nussbaum Capabilities approach Universalism Pluralism Relativism Distributive theory of justice Ideal observer theory Realpolitik