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Reconciling agency and impartiality: positional views as the cornerstone of Sen’s idea of justice

Author

Listed:
  • Muriel Gilardone

    (IDEES - Identité et Différenciation de l’Espace, de l’Environnement et des Sociétés - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - ULH - Université Le Havre Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UNIROUEN - Université de Rouen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - IRIHS - Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire Homme et Société - UNIROUEN - Université de Rouen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université)

  • Antoinette Baujard

    (Université de Lyon)

Abstract

Our paper offers a novel reading of Sen's idea of justice, going beyond two standard prisms that we have identified as obscuring the debate: 1) welfarism, i.e. the focus on one definition of individual welfare; and 2) transcendentalism, i.e. resting on external normative criteria. Instead we take seriously Sen's emphasis on personal agency, and we focus on his original contribution to the issue of positional objectivity. Firstly, we demonstrate that Sen's idea of justice, with the notion of "positional views" at its core, is more respectful of persons' agency than any theory based on individual preference or capability could be. Secondly, we argue that Sen's conception of positional views considers that both information and sentiments are relevant. Such an alternative approach to both objectivity and subjectivity in their standard meanings allows the formation of more impartial views through collective deliberation and a better consideration of justice by agents themselves. This paper contributes to better articulating Sen's constructive proposal regarding justice and clarifying its anti-paternalistic nature.

Suggested Citation

  • Muriel Gilardone & Antoinette Baujard, 2020. "Reconciling agency and impartiality: positional views as the cornerstone of Sen’s idea of justice," Working Papers halshs-04742096, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-04742096
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-04742096v1
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