Amartya Sen and Moral Choice: Merging Development Theory and Existentialism. Ibadan Journal of Humanistic Studies 19/20 (2010): 36-42. (original) (raw)
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Notes on Amartya Sens Development as Freedom
The greeting "May you have a prosperous New Year" is always appreciated, for prosperity is something we wish for ourselves and for others. To most people, prosperity is "having more money to spend for your needs" or "possessing more goods" or something similar. Wealth or economic prosperity is the most common indicator of development. Amartya Sen goes beyond what meets the eye in proposing an approach to development seen as a process of expanding people's substantive freedoms. In his book "Development as Freedom", Sen elaborates on what he means by freedom and why the presence of freedoms has a positive causal relation to development while its absence has positive causal relation poverty. He argues that at the very root of development or poverty is the question of whether any expansion among the individuals' freedoms has taken place and he claims that this perspective, which he calls the capability perspective, is a better basis for evaluating the level of development of any community than economic or technological progress would be. If the expansion of freedoms is indeed crucial for development, then political, economic and social institutions should all contribute synergistically to the process of development in and through enhancing and sustaining individual freedoms. Sen shows how the analysis of development requires an integrated understanding of the respective roles of these different institutions in expanding and supporting individual freedoms as well as their necessary structural interrelatedness in achieving this objective, serving either as an instrument or as an end. Ultimately, it can be said that development is accomplished in individuals, through the agency of these same individuals themselves, within an enabling climate provided by the harmonious blend of political, economic and social conditions towards the creation of structures and opportunities where all individuals can pursue the life they have reason to value. 1
Missionalia, 2014
This paper is concerned with the role of personhood in development. I will be looking at the extent to which the influential model of development proposed by Amartya Sen does justice to the category of personhood. I will provide an overview of the work of Sen in the area of development and then provide some critical engagement. Drawing from the work of Sen this article provides some pointers or markers towards an approach to development as missionary role. Bosch's phrase "creative tension" provides a key principle for an approach to development.
Free At Last: A Review Essay of Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom
A review of Amartya Sen's seminal "Development as Freedom". Composed for the Fall 2019 class "Economics of Developing Areas" and taught by economics professor Luai AlSadiq. This paper begins by sketching a brief biography of the author before analyzing the book in depth, documenting important findings and concentrating on the ethical system that grounds Sen’s normative claims. The reading is then critically compared/contrasted with Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson and The Tyranny of Experts by William Easterley.
Development as freedom: taking economics beyond commodities-the cautious boldness of Amartya Sen
Journal of International Development, 2000
Development as Freedom provide an opportunity to assess his intellectual contribution and style. The paper identifies entitlements analysis and capabilities analysis as the areas which make him stand out for wider audiences from the economists of his generation; and considers the integrative development philosophy which he has constructed around those two areas, centering on the direct and instrumental values of freedom and democracy. Three aspects of Sen's intellectual style are discussed: first, his multi-disciplinarity and fruitful balance between vivid cases, formal theorizing, and policy relevance; second, a preference for gentle persuasion, seen in adoption of evocative but ambiguous, politically safe labels and an avoidance of seeking debate on all fronts (e.g. concerning hyper affluence); third, a continuing project to debate with and influence economists, and hence, while upgrading parts of their inadequate picture of persons, retention of other parts. His capability approach lends itself however to enrichment by deeper analyses of human agency.
This article discusses the theoretical scheme of human development as proposed in the 1990s by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) by exploring the theoretical foundations of Amartya Sen's capability approach. Sen critiques traditional development thinking that considers Gross Domestic Product growth as a principal vehicle for progress and economic development. Human Development, grounded on the capability approach, focuses on the enhancement of people's real freedom to choose the kinds of lives they have reasons to value. This essay explores the strengths and weaknesses of the capability approach toward realizing holistic human development, an approach that focuses on human development as enhancement of individual freedom. For the capability approach to be an effective tool for evaluating human development, however, it is argued here that Ubuntu philosophy should be incorporated. Ubuntu philosophy envisions the human being as a communal being driven by the virtues of cooperation and solidarity.
Development as Freedom – And As What Else?
2003
To what extent can Amartya Sen’s ideas on freedom, especially his conceptualization of development as freedom, enrich feminist economics? Sen’s notion of freedom (as the capability to achieve valued ends) has many attractions and provides important opportunities to analyze gender inequalities. At the same time, Sen’s recent emphasis on freedom as the dominant value in judging individual well-being and societal development also contains risks, not least for feminist analysis. We characterize the risks as an under-elaboration and overextension of the concept of freedom. Drawing on Sen’s earlier work and various feminist theorists, we suggest instead a more emphatically pluralist characterization of capability, well-being, and value, highlighting the distinct and substantive aspects of freedom, as well as of values besides freedom, in the lives of women and men. We illustrate this with reference to women’s economic role as caregivers. KEYWORDS - Amartya Sen, development, freedom, well-being, values, capability approach
DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM v - v AND AS WHAT ELSE
Feminist Economics, 2003
To what extent can Amartya Sen's ideas on freedom, especially his conceptualization of development as freedom, enrich feminist economics? Sen's notion of freedom (as the capability to achieve valued ends) has many attractions and provides important opportunities to analyze gender inequalities. At the same time, Sen's recent emphasis on freedom as the dominant value in judging individual well-being and societal development also contains risks, not least for feminist analysis. We characterize the risks as an underelaboration and overextension of the concept of freedom. Drawing on Sen's earlier work and various feminist theorists, we suggest instead a more emphatically pluralist characterization of capability, well-being, and value, highlighting the distinct and substantive aspects of freedom, as well as of values besides freedom, in the lives of women and men. We illustrate this with reference to women's economic role as caregivers.
Sen's Development as Freedom and Sachs's The End of Poverty
The arguments of this paper revolve around the notion of development in Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom and Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty. This paper examines both the divergence and convergence of the two views of development in addressing issues such as, but not limited to, poverty, freedom, injustice, and interference. In so doing, the writer begins by (1) presenting the arguments in Sen’s Development as Freedom; then followed by (2) discussing the basic tenets of Sachs’s The End of Poverty. Lastly, (3) the writer makes an attempt for a comparative study between the two so as to make sense of the term “development” from the lens of the aforementioned philosophers/economists.
Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, 2001
This review essay explores the implications of Amartya Sen's ideas -expressed in his book Development as Freedom -for the church ;n development. The author is appreciative of Sen's perspective on development as freedom, and suggests that the Christian focus on the freedom that Christ has given us provides a way of working with Sen's ideas. After first outlining Sen's major ideas she then dialogues with them from the perspective of the church in Madagascar around three key themes: agency, advocacy and empowerment. V) Sen, Development as freedom 11 ^s Copyright and Use: