Martha Nussbaum, the Capabilities Approach to quality of life

Slides for an Introduction to Philosophy course at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. These slides focus on parts of Nussbaum's 1997 article entitled "Capabilities and Human Rights."

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Nussbaum
capabilities

Transcript

1. Martha Nussbaum
   The “capabilities approach”
   PHIL 102, UBC
   Christina Hendricks
   Spring 2018
   Except images licensed otherwise, this presentation is licensed CC BY 4.0
   

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2. Questions she is addressing
   • How should we evaluate quality of life?
   • What does this say about how we should help
   those in need?
   Image licensed CC0 from pixabay.com
   Image licensed CC0 from pixabay.com
   

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3. Vasanti’s story
   Nussbaum starts Creating Capabilities: The Human
   Development Approach (2011) with the story of
   Vasanti
   India 2011-07-18 at 07-24-
   24, Flickr photo by José
   Antonio Morcillo, licensed
   CC-BY
   

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4. Common approaches to
   considering quality of life
   “Capabilities Human and Rights” (1997)
   What do you think might be good ways to
   measure people’s quality of life around the world?
   

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5. GNP or GDP
   Problems:
   • Doesn’t consider
   distribution
   • Too narrow a
   measure
   Image licensed CC0 from pixabay.com
   

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6. Utilitarian approaches
   (based on preference satisfaction)
   Problems:
   • Also doesn’t consider distribution
   • “adaptive preferences” (283)—can reinforce
   inequalities
   Friends image , chocolate image , rock climber image licensed CC0 from pixabay.com
   

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7. Distribution of basic rights & resources
   John Rawls: rights & resources
   that all rational individuals would
   desire, so that even the least
   well off have a minimum level
   Problem:
   Having the rights & resources is
   not enough; social
   circumstances differences in
   ability & opportunity to use them
   (284)
   

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8. The capabilities approach
   What Nussbaum advocates
   

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9. Basics of this approach
   Asks: what are people “actually able to do
   and to be?” (285)
   There are certain
   capabilities
   required to live
   well/flourish as a
   human, to live with
   human dignity
   (286)
   

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10. Nussbuam’s list of
    ten central capabilities (287-288)
    Life
    Bodily health
    Emotions
    Affiliation
    Leisure/play
    Other species
    Bodily integrity
    Practical reason
    Senses, imagination, thought
    Control over
    environment:
    political & material
    Your views…?
    

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11. Capabilities vs. Functioning
    Combined capabilities include both:
    • Internal capabilities: the internal ability to act (289)
    • External conditions: social opportunities &
    freedoms to express internal ability (290)
    Functioning: fulfilling one or more capabilities (289)
    

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12. How differs from utilitarianism?
    Distribution:
    Not just what people prefer or what will give
    them pleasure, but focus on flourishing as a
    human, living a fully human life
    

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13. Capabilities & Human Rights
    (optional parts of article)
    • Capabilities can
    clarify what “human
    rights” are (292-294)
    • Emphasize both
    internal and external
    requirements for
    human rights Eleanor Roosevelt & the Universal Declaration on
    Human Rights (1948); public domain on
    Wikimedia Commons
    

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