Tensions in Amartya Sen’s Idea of Justice

Authors

  • Ricardo Crespo Universidad Austral; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Keywords:

JUSTICE, AMARTYA SEN, CAPABILITY, MARTHA NUSSBAUM, MAXIMIZATION, DIAGRAM, PRAGMATISM

Abstract

This paper presents a critical study of Amartya Sen’s book, The Idea of Justice. First, the contrasts between pragmatism and objectivity in the idea of justice proposed by Sen are analyzed. Then, the concept of ‘capability’ proposed by this economist is developed, and Martha Nussbaum’s objections to this approach are presented. Further, the article explores the links between the idea of justice and Amartya Sen’s economic conceptions, and analyzes the discussion about the maximizing diagram carried out by this thinker and Elizabeth Anderson. Finally, an assessment of the work as a whole is made, highlighting the importance of practical reason in the analysis of justice.

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Author Biography

Ricardo Crespo, Universidad Austral; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Doctor en Filosofía (UNCU); Licenciado en Economía (UCA); Investigador Independiente del CONICET; Titular de Filosofía de la Economía (UNCU); Profesor del IAE; Director de Investigación de la Universidad Austral; Miembro del Consejo de Redacción de esta revista.

References

Anderson, Elizabeth, (2001), “Symposium on Amartya Sen’s Philosophy: 2 Unstrapping the Straitjacket of ‘Preference’: A Comment on Amartya

Sen’s Contributions to Philosophy and Economics”, Economics and Philosophy 17: 21-38.

Crocker, D. A. (1995) “Functioning and Capability. The Foundations of Sen’s and Nussbaum’s Developments Ethics, Part II”, en Nussbaum, Martha C. and Jonathan Glover (eds.), Women, Culture and Development, Clarendon Press, Oxford: 153-198.

Debreu, Gerard, ([1959] 1973). Teoría del valor, Bosch, Barcelona.

Nussbaum, Martha C. (1993). “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach”, en M. C. Nussbaum y A. Sen, The Quality of Life, Oxford University Press y The United Nations University: 242-269.

O’Keeffe, Alice, (2010). “The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen”, en The Observer, 18-VII-10.

Sen, Amartya (1992). Inequality Reexamined, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Sen, Amartya (1993). “Capability and Well-being”, in Nussbaum, M. C. y A. Sen (eds.), The Quality of Life, Oxford University Press y The United Nations University: 30-53.

Sen, Amartya (1997). “Maximization and the Act of Choice”, Econometrica, 65/4: 745-79.

Sen, Amartya (1999). Development as Freedom, New York, Alfred A. Knopf.

Sen, Amartya (2000). “Consequential Evaluation and Practical Reason”, The Journal of Philosophy, 97/9: 477-502.

Sen, Amartya (2002). Rationality and Freedom, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Sen, Amartya (2004a). “Dialogue. Capabilities, Lists, and Public Reason: Continuing the Conversation”. Feminist Economics 10-3:77-80.

Sen, Amartya (2004b). “Elements of a Theory of Human Rights”. Philosophy and Public Affairs 32/4: 315-356.

Sen, Amartya (2004c). “Incompleteness and Reasoned Choice”, Synthese, 140/1-2: 43-59.

Sen, Amartya (2006). “What do we want from a theory of justice?”, The Journal of Philosophy, 103: 215-238.

Sen, Amartya (2008). “The Idea of Justice”, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 9/3:331-342.

Sen, Amartya (2009). The Idea of Justice, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Published

2019-11-13

How to Cite

Crespo, R. (2019). Tensions in Amartya Sen’s Idea of Justice. Cultura Económica, 29(81-82), 27–30. Retrieved from https://erevistas.uca.edu.ar/index.php/CECON/article/view/1477