Capabilities, functionings and refined functionings

Marc Fleurbaey

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Sen's theory of capabilities is often presented as more comprehensive than an approach in terms of achievements (functionings) because it takes account of freedom and it contains at least as much information. This paper questions the last argument and argues that both kinds of consideration (freedom, comprehensive information) justify an approach in terms of refined functionings (an expression coined by Sen to describe the pair functionings-capabilities) rather than a pure capability approach. It briefly examines why achievements and not only opportunities may matter in social evaluation.

Keywords: capabilities; functionings; social justice; equality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Published in Journal of Human Development, 2006, 7, pp.299-310

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00246780

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().