Who has propounded the Capability Theory of Justice?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 1:

The Capability Theory of Justice, more accurately known as the Capability Approach, was primarily pioneered and developed by the Indian economist and philosopher **Amartya Sen**. Sen's work fundamentally shifted the focus of welfare economics and theories of justice away from mere resources (like income) or subjective mental states (like utility/happiness) toward the real freedoms and opportunities people have to achieve valuable 'functionings' (beings and doings, such as being healthy or being educated). For Sen, capability represents a person's *effective freedom* to choose between different lives they have reason to value. His argument is that a just society must be concerned with ensuring a fair distribution of these capabilities, especially basic ones, enabling individuals to live a life of dignity and fulfillment. Although Sen often describes his framework as an 'approach' rather than a complete, prescriptive 'theory of justice,' his formulation, particularly in his major work *The Idea of Justice* (2009), directly addresses justice by comparing actual societal arrangements in terms of their impact on people’s capabilities. Martha Nussbaum is also a major figure who built upon Sen's foundation to develop a more specific Capability Theory of Justice, including a definitive list of Central Human Capabilities, but Sen remains the primary originator of the broader Capability Approach.

The incorrect option is 2:

**John Rawls** is one of the most significant political philosophers of the 20th century, known for his work *A Theory of Justice* (1971), which proposed Justice as Fairness. His theory is based on the idea of a hypothetical 'Original Position' where individuals choose principles of justice behind a 'Veil of Ignorance.' Rawls argued that people would choose two principles: equal basic liberties and the Difference Principle (economic inequalities must benefit the least advantaged). While Sen's work on capabilities is often framed as a critique of or alternative to Rawls' emphasis on primary social goods (like income and wealth), Rawls did not propound the Capability Theory; his focus remained on primary goods as the basis for evaluating justice.

The incorrect option is 3:

**Robert Nozick** is a prominent libertarian political philosopher, best known for his book *Anarchy, State, and Utopia* (1974), which was published as a response to John Rawls's theory. Nozick advocates for a Minimal State (or Nightwatchman State), arguing that any state intervention beyond protecting citizens from force, theft, fraud, and enforcing contracts is unjust, as it violates individual rights. His theory of justice, the Entitlement Theory, centers on historical principles of just acquisition and transfer, not on the distribution of capabilities or functionings. Nozick’s views are directly opposed to the distributive concerns inherent in the Capability Theory.

The incorrect option is 4:

**C. B. Macpherson** was a Canadian political theorist known for his influential work on democratic theory, liberalism, and especially his concept of *possessive individualism*. His key works, such as *The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: Hobbes to Locke* (1962), analyze how classical liberal thought conceptualized the individual as the proprietor of his own person and capacities, owing nothing to society for them. Macpherson’s focus was on critiquing the underlying assumptions of Western liberalism and private property relations, and he is not associated with propounding the modern Capability Theory of Justice, which emerged decades later.