Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice The Capability Approach Re-Examined, 2017a

90 Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice
why is human diversity given so much importance in the capability
literature? (Section 3.5) What does the notion ‘collective capability’ refer
to? (Section 3.6) Which notion of wellbeing does the capability approach
give us? (Section 3.7) How does the capability approach differ from the
happiness approach, and what are the reasons that capability scholars do
not adopt the happiness approach? (Section 3.8) To what extent — and
how — can the capability approach deal with adaptive preferences?
(Section 3.9) Can a capability theory also be an explanatory theory, or is
that not possible? (Section 3.10) Can the capability approach be used to
study all normative questions, or is it not a suitable framework for some
normative questions? (Section 3.11) The capability approach is often
positioned as an alternative for resourcist theories — but what exactly
is the role of resources in the capability approach? (Section 3.12) Finally,
we consider how the capability approach relates to two established
literatures: theories of justice and theories of human rights. Which
choices in module B and module C are needed in order to construct a
capability theory of justice? (Section 3.13) And how do capabilities and
human rights relate to each other? (Section 3.14)
and ‘functioning’
While at a very introductory level, the terms ‘functionings’ and
‘capability’ seem to be easy and straightforward, the terminology
used in the literature is, alas, not always clear. There has been quite
considerable confusion in the use of the terminology, although — if one
takes a meta-disciplinary helicopter view — it is possible to discern that
particular uses of certain terms are more dominant than others. The
confusion has several sources. First, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum
have used the same terminology somewhat differently to each other,
and since most capability scholars are more influenced either by Sen
or by Nussbaum, its use in the wider literature is not standardised.
Moreover, both Sen and Nussbaum have changed their use over time,
without always making this explicit. Thirdly, there are differences in
terminological choices that can be traced back to established differences
in different disciplines, which are having their effect on the different
disciplinary streams in the capability literature.