Beyond the economy of the well-being. The perspective of capabilities by Amartya Sen and Martha C. Nussbaum

Abstract

The capability approach proposed by Sen, from an economical point of view, and by Nussbaum, from a philosophical perspective, allows us to understand the different realities and social problems which may affect human development and well-being from a new assessing and critical logic. This approach’s theoretical and argumentative body, which is directly related to the introduction of the moral philosophy of the development economics and with the understanding of the idea of justice and freedom, tackles the traditional theories and conventional models of the analyses of the relative life capacities from a logical reasoning. As a last resort, it has been proposed as a theoretical principle. By using it, diverse strategies, tools, policies or institutional action guidelines can be observed, analyzed or elaborated within a sociopolitical framework with which —or from which— the improvement of the quality of life of the individuals forming our society can be actively influenced.