Author: Martha C Nussbaum
Amartya Sen/
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 453
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195649656
Description
In this book, leading philosophers and economists address issues that relate to defining and measuring 'quality of life'. It reflects the growing need for interdisciplinary work as economists become more sensitive to the importance of facing fundamental philosophical questions.
Economists work with a crude measure of per capita income as indicative of human welfare, and the notion of maximizing an individual's utility underlies much within conventional demand theory. Philosophers, on the other hand, insist that we need to consider the distribution of wealth and income too, and assess a number of distinct areas of human life when determining how well people are doing. Philosophers are also becoming aware of the importance of linking theoretical inquiries to an understanding of complex practical problems.
Excerpts from Reviews:
the effort recorded here will help to draw philosophical and economic theory a little closer to the world of crying children and inflamed conflict. - American Political Science Review
THE EDITORS:
Martha C Nussbaum is University Professor and Professor of Philosophy, Classics and Comparative Literature at Brown University.
Amartya Sen is Master, Trinity College, Cambridge. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998.
Contents
List of Contributors
Introduction
Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen
PART I: LIVES AND CAPABILITIES
Equality of What? On Welfare, Goods, and Capabilities
Capability and Well-Being
Commentators on Cohen and Sen
Descriptions of Inequality: The Swedish Approach to Welfare Research
Commentator
Having, Loving, Being: An Alternative to the Swedish Model of Welfare Research
Quality of Life Measures in Health Care and Medical Ethics
Commentator
PART II: TRADITIONS, RELATIVISM, AND OBJECTIVITY
Objectivity and the Science-Ethics Distinction
Commentator
Objectivity and Social Meaning
Commentator
Value, Desire and Quality of Life
Commentator
Explanation and Practical Reason
Commentator
Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach
Commentator
PART III: WOMEN’S LIVES AND GENDER JUSTICE
Women and the Quality of Life: Two Norms or One?
Commentator
Justice, Gender, and International Boundaries
Commentator
PART IV: POLICY ASSESSMENT AND WELFARE ECONOMICS
Distributing Health: The Allocation of Resources by an International Agency
Commentator
The Relativity of the Welfare Concept
Commentator
Pluralism and the Standard of living
Commentator
Life-Style and the Standard of Living
Commentator
Index