AMARTYA SEN’S PERSPECTIVE ON CAPABILITY APPROACH & WELL-BEING

Abstract

A society develops in a certain way to ensure the flourishment of its members. By eliminating injustice, the citizens of the society draw a full proof plan to establish justice. This is not about the formation of a completely just society; it is the formulation of a society in which its citizens can eliminate injustice to the furthest extent. So, the theory of justice becomes so important and relevant in this context. John Rawls in his A Theory of Justice explains equality in terms of distribution of primary goods to establish justice individualistically. His idea of well-being helps to develop the position of least well offs in the society so that it brings a concept of equality and justice among the citizens of the society. In contrary, twentieth century philosopher Amartya Sen illustrates his notion of justice based on capability approach. His contention here is to explain the idea that human beings have the freedom to choose his own life path by his ability to achieve certain things. The contrast between these theories show different approaches towards justice and establish well-being for the citizens of the society. Sen’s idea has been considered here not only as a critique of Rawlsian theory but also it is a further development of the same. Moreover, the author tried to raise some very admissible queries regarding practicality in Sen’s theory in the conclusion section of this paper which in my view demand our attention.