Amartya Sen and the Revival of Ethical Tradition in Economics

Farah Naz ()
Additional contact information
Farah Naz: University of Sargodha

Atlantic Economic Journal, 2021, vol. 49, issue 4, No 6, 393-402

Abstract: Abstract Much of the twentieth century debate regarding economics revolved around the contested roles of the state and the market. The outcome of this debate largely deprived economics of the moral compass that was once one of its hallmarks. In this regard, Sen made a significant contribution in placing ethics back into the theory of economics by focusing his work on the long-neglected relationship between the two subjects and challenging the philosophical foundations of traditional economic theory, arguing that although, in principle, economic behaviour and moral disposition might be separated, in practice, both are deeply intertwined. Ethical concerns inevitably infiltrate even a good deal of positive and normative economics. In recent years, there has been a call from within economics to humanize economics by reviving its ethical tradition. Consequently, the moral dimensions of economic life are now subject to reflection and constant negotiation. This reinterpretation may deal with overall economic relations or it could be related to one specific aspect. The former focuses on reviving the economic system as a whole while the latter aims to improve the system by focusing on existing limitations. In examining the relationship between economics and philosophy, this paper draws on one of the principal areas of Sen’s economic research, the capability approach, to explore how Sen’s ethical philosophy delineates engagement between economics and moral philosophy.

Keywords: Capability approach; Ethics; Moral philosophy; B55; D63; Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11293-022-09737-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:kap:atlecj:v:49:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11293-022-09737-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/11293/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11293-022-09737-6

Access Statistics for this article

Atlantic Economic Journal is currently edited by Kathleen S. Virgo

More articles in Atlantic Economic Journal from Springer, International Atlantic Economic Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().