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Personhood and Human Richness: Good and Well-Being in the Capability Approach and Beyond

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  • Benedetta Giovanola

Abstract

This paper aims at developing the Capability Approach's (CA) underlying philosophical anthropology and ethics by focusing on the work of its major exponents, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. I first discuss CA's critique of happiness as subjective well-being and defend the idea of 'flourishing' which ultimately refers to the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia. I then focus on the notions of 'good' and 'well-being' and address the problem of the compatibility between a substantive notion of the Good (expressed through universal moral values) and individual preferences. I thus tackle the issue of adaptive preferences (which is investigated both from a methodological and an ethical perspective) and suggest that the process of adaptation should be thought in the dynamic frame of the constitution of the self. Therefore, in the second half of the paper I investigate the CA's idea of personhood and focus on some important assumptions behind its underlying anthropological model - above all the notion of 'human richness'. As a result, I first point out the dynamic dimension of personhood, according to which individuals are 'becoming themselves' in search of self-realisation and construction of their identities. Second, I highlight its relational dimension, according to which every one is the expression of the anthropological richness and at the same time represents the highest possibility of richness for every other one.

Suggested Citation

  • Benedetta Giovanola, 2005. "Personhood and Human Richness: Good and Well-Being in the Capability Approach and Beyond," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 249-267.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocec:v:63:y:2005:i:2:p:249-267
    DOI: 10.1080/00346760500130416
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michel Fortier & Marie-Noëlle Albert, 2015. "From Resource to Human Being," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(3), pages 21582440156, September.
    2. Farah Naz, 2022. "Capabilities and Human Well-Being: How to Bridge the Missing Link?," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 8(2), pages 61-71, June.
    3. Buckler, Alison, 2015. "Quality teaching in rural Sub-Saharan Africa: Different perspectives, values and capabilities," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 126-133.
    4. Fabio Zagonari, 2011. "Which Ethics Will Make us Individually and Socially Happier? A Cross-Culture and Cross-Development Analytical Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 77-103, March.
    5. Joar Vittersø & Yngvil Søholt & Audun Hetland & Irina Thoresen & Espen Røysamb, 2010. "Was Hercules Happy? Some Answers from a Functional Model of Human Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Gasper, D.R., 2006. "What is the capability approach?: its core, rationale, partners and dangers," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19187, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    7. Gasper, Des, 2007. "What is the capability approach?: Its core, rationale, partners and dangers," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 335-359, June.
    8. Routh Supriya, 2012. "Developing Human Capabilities Through Law: Is Indian Law Failing?," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-22, April.
    9. Erasmo, Valentina, 2021. "Female economists and philosophers’ role in Amartya Sen’s thought: his colleagues and his scholars," MPRA Paper 105769, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Benedetta Giovanola, 2009. "Re-Thinking the Anthropological and Ethical Foundation of Economics and Business: Human Richness and Capabilities Enhancement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 431-444, September.

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