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A Capability Approach to Intergenerational Justice? Examining the Potential of Amartya Sen's Ethics with Regard to Intergenerational Issues

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  • Rebecca Gutwald
  • Ortrud Leßmann
  • Torsten Masson
  • Felix Rauschmayer

Abstract

The idea of intergenerational justice has practical consequences, not least because it is linked to the politically influential, wide-ranging concept of sustainable development. It also bears on several philosophical puzzles arising in the context of intergenerational justice. They need to be solved in order to establish a case for intergenerational obligations of justice. In this paper we shall examine Amartya Sen's capability approach in the light of these questions. In developing an account of human development, Sen's capability approach suggests a conception of some aspects of intragenerational justice, but not of intergenerational justice itself. This paper aims to close this gap in two steps: first, it identifies necessary elements of a theory of justice; second, and subsequently, it examines how successful the capability approach is in providing these elements.

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  • Rebecca Gutwald & Ortrud Leßmann & Torsten Masson & Felix Rauschmayer, 2014. "A Capability Approach to Intergenerational Justice? Examining the Potential of Amartya Sen's Ethics with Regard to Intergenerational Issues," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 355-368, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jhudca:v:15:y:2014:i:4:p:355-368
    DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2014.899563
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mulgan, Tim, 2008. "Future People: A Moderate Consequentialist Account of our Obligations to Future Generations," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199556731.
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    Cited by:

    1. Krumm, Raimund & Volkert, Jürgen, 2015. "Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der politischen Realisierbarkeit intra- und intergenerativer Gerechtigkeit," UFZ Discussion Papers 11/2015, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    2. Ernest Uwayezu & Walter T. De Vries, 2018. "Indicators for Measuring Spatial Justice and Land Tenure Security for Poor and Low Income Urban Dwellers," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-34, July.
    3. Michael B. Wironen & Robert V. Bartlett & Jon D. Erickson, 2019. "Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, February.
    4. Anna Bielska & Agnieszka Wendland & Maciej Delnicki, 2020. "Possibilities for the Development of Building Plots with an Unfavorable Structure in the Context of Spatial Justice: A Case Study of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Ernest Uwayezu & Walter T. de Vries, 2019. "Expropriation of Real Property in Kigali City: Scoping the Patterns of Spatial Justice," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-29, January.

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    1. Gutwald, Rebecca & Leßmann, Ortrud & Masson, Torsten & Rauschmayer, Felix, 2011. "The capability approach to intergenerational justice: A survey," UFZ Discussion Papers 8/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).

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