Begon, J. (2015) Athletic Policy, Passive Well-Being: Defending Freedom in the Capability Approach. Economics and Philosophy. ISSN 0266-2671
Abstract
A. Cohen has criticized the capability approach for focusing on individuals’ freedom – their capability to control their lives – and ignoring benefits achieved passively. He argues that this view of well-being is excessively ‘athletic’. However, if the capability approach is employed to guide egalitarian public policy, capabilities are the appropriate goal of just distributive policies, not just components of individual well-being. When understood as a policy-guide, I argue that the capability approach's focus on ‘athletic’ individual freedom and control is justified: in the public domain, it is important not just that individuals receive benefits, but that they participate in their achievement.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Cambridge University Press. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of Philosophy (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Sep 2016 09:48 |
Last Modified: | 30 Apr 2020 08:31 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0266267115000267 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0266267115000267 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89117 |
Download
Filename: AthleticPolicyPassiveWellBeing_EconPhil_Formatted.pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0