Citation: Thomas Wells, The Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, https://www.iep.utm.edu/, 19/08/18.
TASK: Identify the 'Resources' that were made available to
you and reflect on how it has changed your capabilities.
Functionings and Capability
“When
evaluating well-being, Sen argues, the most important thing is to consider what
people are actually able to be and do. The commodities or wealth people have or
their mental reactions (utility) are an inappropriate focus because they
provide only limited or indirect information about how well a life is going.
Sen illustrates his point with the example of a standard bicycle. This has the
characteristics of ‘transportation’ but whether it will actually provide
transportation will depend on the characteristics of those who try to use it.
It might be considered a generally useful tool for most people to extend their
mobility, but it obviously will not do that for a person without legs. Even if
that person, by some quirk, finds the bicycle delightful, we should
nevertheless be able to note within our evaluative system that she still lacks
transportation. Nor does this mental reaction show that the same person would
not appreciate transportation if it were really available to her.
The Capability
Approach focuses directly on the quality of life that individuals are actually
able to achieve. This quality of life is analyzed in terms of the core concepts
of ‘functionings’ and ‘capability’.
- Functionings are states of ‘being and doing’ such as being well-nourished, having shelter. They should be distinguished from the commodities employed to achieve them (as ‘bicycling’ is distinguishable from ‘possessing a bike’).
- Capability refers to the set of valuable functionings that a person has effective access to. Thus, a person’s capability represents the effective freedom of an individual to choose between different functioning combinations – between different kinds of life – that she has reason to value. (In later work, Sen refers to ‘capabilities’ in the plural (or even ‘freedoms’) instead of a single capability set, and this is also common in the wider capability literature. This allows analysis to focus on sets of functionings related to particular aspects of life, for example, the capabilities of literacy, health, or political freedom.)”
13 comments:
Amartya Sen basically defines development by his capability approach. he says that poverty can't be measured by income but what a person is or can be, and does, or can do. It should not focus on how many commodities is being consumed by people but what use the consumer can and does make of commodities. Basically, he explained development in terms of human well-being
Functioning: What people do or can do with the commodities of given characteristics that they come to possess or control.
Functioning depends on :
1.social conventions in force in the society in which the person lives
2. the position of the person in the family and in the society
3. the presence or absence of festivities such as marriages, seasonal festivals and other occasions such as funerals,
4.the physical distance from the homes of friends and relatives
For me out of all the resources my life provided me the single most important one was good education. Good Exposure and ample amount of information that'd eventually help me in life. But these resources were provided to be by lottery of birth as John Rawls said. Being born in a good family is a resource in itself. The environment around a person is not at all economically influenced but culturally made. So not all developments are economic in nature but are influenced by several variables.
Capabilities define a person's productivity and usefulness for the society for which the person is awarded. One's health is the necessary variable in the result of productivity. "Being" is essential for capability to be appropriately executed. Thus Mr.Sen's extraordinary linkages make the subject less numeric and more qualitative.
Damini Chouhan
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In Amartya Sen’s capability approach development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms of people . The capability to function is what matters the most and it goes beyond availability of commodities. Poverty is a situation where people lack the most basic capabilities to lead a good life. This theory has emerged as a serious alternative model of progress and development. Further, I would like to add that, rather than talking of some theoretical equality of people or seeing them in terms of numbers, the capability approach explicitly recognizes the differences among individuals. It also accepts that people’s abilities are affected by external factors coming from interaction with other people, social arrangements, access to infrastructure and public services, discriminations, opportunities to participate in social and political activities, freedom to speak and influence state policies, and so on.
Vartika Jain
17BAL125
Capabilities focuses on the freedom that people actully enjoy ,Like it Is well said in the article.The capability set represents a person’s freedom to achieve various functioning combinations. Many Resources are available to us personal resources material resources naturals resources etc. And ofcourse It has enhanced our capabilities or rather helped us achieved that capability. For Example , the requirement of food and of nutrients for the capability of being well-nourished . The resource of technology advancement in d feild of medicine has lead to longivity. We are constantly converting selected sets a of functions to capability in order to meet basic needs and improve quality of life But Its Varies form person to person the definition of basic needs, quality of life, and ofcourse capabilities! For example being well-nourished may greatly vary from person to person depending on metabolic rates, body size, gender, pregnancy, age, climatic conditions, parasitic ailments and so on. The evaluation of commodity-holdings or of incomes (with which to purchase commodities) can be at best a proxy for the things that really mutter, but unfortunately it does not seem to be a particularly good proxy in most cases.
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Harshita Khare
According to amartya sen(in capabilities approach) we should not look for GDP of a nation as development but how many people are benefited from the production .Amartya Sen said poverty can never be measured only by income and consumption.
He said income cannot be a proof for development and according to him development can be measured om freedom and disparities which comes between freedom that are:-
1) Personal Disparity
2) Environmental Disparity-
3)Social Climate- Variables which going to change your life
4) Family Disparities- Injustice within family
5)Relational Disparities
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Aryan Singh Chouhan
The Capability Approach given by Amartya Sen has been employed extensively in the context of human development, for example, by the United Nations Development Programme, as a broader, deeper alternative to narrowly economic metrics such as growth in GDP per capita. Here ‘poverty’ is understood as deprivation in the capability to live a good life, and ‘development’ is understood as capability expansion. According to him poverty can not be related to income and consumption.
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Ujjawal Bhargava
Amartya Sen defines development by his capability approach. He said 'development is a process of expanding'. He explained development in terms of human well-being. He said it is a person's freedom of choice or control over one's life which defines development. Poverty is not directly related to income or consumption. Therefore, I may have high income but can still be underdeveloped. Example of functioning of individuals include there may be a place were literacy rate is high but gender rate is low. Likewise there may be a situation were quality of education is good but number of females are very low.
In the given blog, Amartya Sen explains the concept of Capabilities Approach. The concept directly emphasises on the quality of life that an individual's able to achieve. He further adds 'functioning' and 'capability' as core concepts of understanding the same. An individual's capability depicts the freedom one has to choose different kinds of life, which seems to be of worth to the person. So as to have knowledge about ones' well being it is important to focus on what an individual can actually be and do. Development is an on going process, it is essential to understand how people are able to seek advantage of the same with the quality of life one enjoys rather than seeing just the quantitative aspect.
In the recent decades Amartya Sen’s Capability theory has emerged as a alternative model of progress and development. Rather than goods and resources, the focus of Sen’s capability approach is on people and their capabilities (the end-results). It also provides an alternative view on issues like poverty, inequality, gender bias, and social exclusion.
His approach is both comprehensive and flexible. It provides dignity to human race because the economic model of development has reduced people to the status of producers and consumers. If the GDP growth model dis-empowers them, the capabilities approach makes their empowerment a central issue. Rather than talking of some theoretical equality of people or seeing them in terms of numbers, the capability approach explicitly recognizes the differences among individuals. It also accepts that people’s abilities are affected by external factors coming from interaction with other people, social arrangements, access to infrastructure and public services, discriminations, opportunities to participate in social and political activities, freedom to speak and influence state policies, and etc.
We understand things better and more clearly with the perspective of their contrasts.
Say, 'Day' can't be well comprehended without the concept of 'What is not Day - Night'.
Same goes for Sen's Capability Idea. He titles his work as 'Development as Freedom', because that is what his approach is all about.
What Capability Approach of Sen surely doesn't believe in is - The Utility Calculus of the Subjective Approaches.
It talks about substantial development- with human well-being at its core- in two key terms : Capabilities and Functioning, that are dealt with in the above article.
Not seeing freedom as an instrumental element but as an intrinsic value is what Sen is concerned about.
Functioning as 'beings&doings' and Capabilities as 'combinations of functioning' are two foundation stones of Amartya Sen's theory.
This article throws ample light on Sen's fascination with helping people in 'developing their chances of development'.
He has once said the same in context of Democracy that , you can not expect people to be developed enough for Democracy, rather the ideal should be developing people through democracy.
In short, his approach is all about the ability of people in realising the goals that they have reasons to value.
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Aditya Pandey
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