Mozaffar Qizilbash
Biographic Data
| ID | 3601497 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mozaffar Qizilbash |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mozaffar |
| FAMILY NAME | Qizilbash |
| SIGNATURE | QIZILBASH M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of York |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2654-591X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 92 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 35 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
On “Consequentialism” and the Capability Approach
Amartya Sen defends the capability approach (CA) and the "discipline of consequential evaluation" which suggests that his CA is consistent with some form of "consequentialism". Yet prominent commentators suggest or imply that Sen's CA is not "consequentialist". The resulting confusion is defused by showing that whether Sen's CA, as a general normative perspective, is consistent with "consequentialism" depends on how "consequentialism" is understo…
The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach
This landmark handbook collects in a single volume the current state of cutting-edge research on the capability approach. It includes a comprehensive introduction to the approach as well as new research from leading scholars in this increasingly influential multi-disciplinary field, including the pioneers of capability research, Martha C. Nussbaum and Amartya Sen. Incorporating both approachable introductory chapters and more in-depth analysis re…
On "Affluent Philosophy" and Future Generations
In Tim Mulgan’s imaginary “broken world” survivors of catastrophic climate change (or some other disaster) cannot invariably meet their basic needs. Mulgan provides lectures on the moral philosophy of an earlier “affluent age” in which Amartya Sen appears briefly as an “affluent thinker.” I argue that some of Sen’s work is highly relevant to the concerns of survivors in part because it focusses on conditions of extreme deprivation and survival. W…
On Parity and the Intuition of Neutrality
On parity views of mere addition if someone (or a group of people) is added to the world at a range of well-being levels – or ‘neutral range’ – leaving existing people unaffected, addition is on a par with the initial situation. Two distinct parity views – ‘rough equality’ and fitting-attitudes views – defend the ‘intuition of neutrality’. The first can be interpreted or adjusted so that it can rebut John Broome's objection that the neutral range…
Capability, objectivity and “false consciousness”
Purpose The extent to which Amartya Sen’s capability approach is prefigured in Karl Marx’s views comes into sharper focus when one notes that Marx and Friedrich Engels explicitly argued that the transformation from capitalism to communism would involve the development of “a totality of capacities”. Sen also cites the notion of “false consciousness” in developing his view of objectivity and claims a Marxian pedigree for the notion of “objective il…
Some Reflections on Capability and Republican Freedom
This paper explores the relationship between Republicanism and the capability approach. While these views and the notions of freedom they endorse are distinct, it is argued that when we trace some of the antecedents of the capability approach notably in the works of Karl Marx these approaches are more closely connected than one might expect from an exchange between Philip Pettit and Amartya Sen. It is, for this reason, unsurprising that Pettit us…
Sugden’s critique of Sen’s capability approach and the dangers of libertarian paternalism
Sugden's Critique of the Capability Approach
In comparing Sen's work with Mill's, Sugden criticizes Sen's capability approach because it may be applied in such a way that society or theorists judge what is best for people and potentially restrict liberty on that basis. Sugden cites Nussbaum's work as evidence in making his case. Sugden's critique of Sen's approach succeeds on a narrow reading of it. On that reading Sen is also critical of it because it does not leave enough room for liberty…
Identity, community, and justice
Amartya Sen's recent works on identity have emerged at the same time as a much wider and growing literature on the topic across the disciplines of politics, philosophy, and economics. This article outlines some of Sen's claims and attempts a partial elucidation of their relationship to some strands in the relevant literatures on identity, community, and justice. It thereby frames Sen's works in such a way as to facilitate comparisons with other v…
The Capability Approach
The capability approach developed by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has become an important new paradigm in thinking about development. However, despite its theoretical and philosophical attractiveness, it has been less easy to measure or to translate into policy. This volume addresses these issues in the context of poverty and justice. Part I offers a set of conceptual essays that debate the strength of the often misunderstood individual focus of th…
Core Poverty, Vagueness and Adaptation
Amartya Sen has argued that poverty is a vague concept. This paper develops a methodology for applying a framework which uses a ‘supervaluationist’ account of vagueness in the context of poverty. Within this framework people or households are termed ‘core poor’ if there is no ambiguity about whether or not they are poor. The framework is applied using data from a survey on the ‘Essentials of Life’ conducted in three locations in South Africa in 2…
Two Views of Corruption and Democracy
The pessimistic view of corruption and democracy sees democracy as either corrupt or unlikely to deter corruption. This view can be traced to the writings of Plato and Aristotle. The modern neoclassical and public choice literatures advance a modern version of the pessimistic view. They suggest that democracy is not likely, in itself, to deter corruption. Shleifer and Vishny go further and suggest that the egalitarian tendencies in democracies pr…
Introduction
The Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) met at the University of Groningen in the early autumn of 2006. As with the previous conferences in Pavia and Paris, the Groningen conference...
The Mere Addition Paradox, Parity and Vagueness
Derek Parfit’s mere addition paradox has generated a large literature. This paper articulates one response to this paradox—which Parfit himself suggested—in terms of a formal account of the relation of parity. I term this response the ‘parity view’. It is consistent with transitivity of ‘at least as good as’, but implies incompleteness of this relation. The parity view is compatible with critical‐band utilitarianism if this is adjusted to allow f…
Social choice and individual capabilities
Amartya Sen has recently suggested that certain issues which arise in the application of the capability approach can be seen in terms of social choice. This article explores certain connections and tensions between Kenneth Arrow's celebrated discussion of social choice and the capability approach while focusing on one central link: pluralism. Given the variety of values people hold, substantive issues which arise in the application of the capabil…
“Well-Being, Adaptation and Human Limitations”
Philosophical accounts of human well-being face a number of significant challenges. In this paper, I shall be primarily concerned with one of these. It relates to the possibility, noted by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen amongst others, that people's desires and attitudes are malleable and can ‘adapt’ in various ways to the straitened circumstances in which they live. If attitudes or desires adapt in this way it can be argued that the relevant de…
Well-Being, Adaptation and Human Limitations
Philosophical accounts of human well-being face a number of significant challenges. In this paper, I shall be primarily concerned with one of these. It relates to the possibility, noted by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen amongst others, that people’s desires and attitudes are malleable and can ‘adapt’ in various ways to the straitened circumstances in which they live. If attitudes or desires adapt in this way it can be argued that the relevant de…
Introduction
The Fifth International Conference on the Capability Approach on ‘Knowledge and Public Action’ took place in Paris in autumn 2005. It was also the first post‐launch conference of the Human Developm...
Special Editor's Introduction
This special issue of the Journal of Human Development brings together a selection of papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on the Capability Approach, which was held at the Unive...
Sen on Freedom and Gender Justice
This comment on the special double issue of Feminist Economics on Amartya Sen's work discusses a number of themes and evaluates certain criticisms and claims in the volume. Sen's work involves a complex differentiation of distinct aspects of freedom. This differentiation is relevant to a number of criticisms. It is particularly helpful in evaluating various claims about Sen's focus on and the adequacy of his account of freedom. The article also c…
Transitivity and Vagueness
Axiomatic utility theory plays a foundational role in some accounts of normative principles. In this context, it is sometimes argued that transitivity of “better than” is a logical truth. Larry Temkin and Stuart Rachels use various examples to argue that “better than” is non–transitive, and that transitivity is not a logical truth. These examples typically involve some sort of “discontinuity.” In his discussion of one of these examples, John Broo…
The Capability Approach and Fuzzy Poverty Measures
On the Arbitrariness and Robustness of Multi-Dimensional Poverty Rankings
It is often argued that multi-dimensional measures of well-being and poverty -- such as those based on the capability approach and related views -- are ad hoc. Rankings based on them are not, for this reason, robust to changes in the selection of weights used. In this paper, it is argued that the extent of potential arbitrariness and the range of issues relating to robustness have been underestimated in this context. Several issues relating to bo…
Development, Common Foes and Shared Values
There is considerable common ground among various positions--involving needs, capabilities, prudential values and basic goods--in the literature about advantage and development. The well-known debate about the relative merits of various spaces relating to advantage, associated with Amartya Sen, has tended to obscure this point. Differences among the relevant positions often have to do with the context in which they are developed, or strategies in…
Rationality, comparability and maximization
James Griffin (1986, 1997, 2000) and Ruth Chang (1997) have argued that alternatives (and values) can be comparable when it is neither true that one is better than the other, nor true that they are exactly equal in value. The relation which holds between them has gone under various names: the alternatives are ‘roughly equal in value’ (Griffin) or ‘on a par’ (Chang). In this paper, I give a formal analysis of this relation. This analysis allows us…
The Capability Approach and Fuzzy Poverty Measures
Development, Common Foes and Shared Values
There is considerable common ground among various positions--involving needs, capabilities, prudential values and basic goods--in the literature about advantage and development. The well-known debate about the relative merits of various spaces relating to advantage, associated with Amartya Sen, has tended to obscure this point. Differences among the relevant positions often have to do with the context in which they are developed, or strategies in…
Ethical development
Social choice and individual capabilities
Amartya Sen has recently suggested that certain issues which arise in the application of the capability approach can be seen in terms of social choice. This article explores certain connections and tensions between Kenneth Arrow's celebrated discussion of social choice and the capability approach while focusing on one central link: pluralism. Given the variety of values people hold, substantive issues which arise in the application of the capabil…
Transitivity and Vagueness
Axiomatic utility theory plays a foundational role in some accounts of normative principles. In this context, it is sometimes argued that transitivity of “better than” is a logical truth. Larry Temkin and Stuart Rachels use various examples to argue that “better than” is non–transitive, and that transitivity is not a logical truth. These examples typically involve some sort of “discontinuity.” In his discussion of one of these examples, John Broo…
Pluralism and well-being indices
The Mere Addition Paradox, Parity and Vagueness
Derek Parfit’s mere addition paradox has generated a large literature. This paper articulates one response to this paradox—which Parfit himself suggested—in terms of a formal account of the relation of parity. I term this response the ‘parity view’. It is consistent with transitivity of ‘at least as good as’, but implies incompleteness of this relation. The parity view is compatible with critical‐band utilitarianism if this is adjusted to allow f…
Sen on Freedom and Gender Justice
This comment on the special double issue of Feminist Economics on Amartya Sen's work discusses a number of themes and evaluates certain criticisms and claims in the volume. Sen's work involves a complex differentiation of distinct aspects of freedom. This differentiation is relevant to a number of criticisms. It is particularly helpful in evaluating various claims about Sen's focus on and the adequacy of his account of freedom. The article also c…
Two Views of Corruption and Democracy
The pessimistic view of corruption and democracy sees democracy as either corrupt or unlikely to deter corruption. This view can be traced to the writings of Plato and Aristotle. The modern neoclassical and public choice literatures advance a modern version of the pessimistic view. They suggest that democracy is not likely, in itself, to deter corruption. Shleifer and Vishny go further and suggest that the egalitarian tendencies in democracies pr…
Needs, Incommensurability and Well-being
Some have argued for the priority of needs in moral and development theory, on the grounds that people have conflicting and incommensurable values and conceptions of the good. In this paper, I concentrate on one version of this view, that due to John Rawls. Rawls' view is that a person's advantage should be evaluated in terms of certain primary goods which are citizens' needs. I outline a variation on James Griffin's account of well-being, which …
Identity, community, and justice
Amartya Sen's recent works on identity have emerged at the same time as a much wider and growing literature on the topic across the disciplines of politics, philosophy, and economics. This article outlines some of Sen's claims and attempts a partial elucidation of their relationship to some strands in the relevant literatures on identity, community, and justice. It thereby frames Sen's works in such a way as to facilitate comparisons with other v…
Sugden's Critique of the Capability Approach
In comparing Sen's work with Mill's, Sugden criticizes Sen's capability approach because it may be applied in such a way that society or theorists judge what is best for people and potentially restrict liberty on that basis. Sugden cites Nussbaum's work as evidence in making his case. Sugden's critique of Sen's approach succeeds on a narrow reading of it. On that reading Sen is also critical of it because it does not leave enough room for liberty…
Rationality, comparability and maximization
James Griffin (1986, 1997, 2000) and Ruth Chang (1997) have argued that alternatives (and values) can be comparable when it is neither true that one is better than the other, nor true that they are exactly equal in value. The relation which holds between them has gone under various names: the alternatives are ‘roughly equal in value’ (Griffin) or ‘on a par’ (Chang). In this paper, I give a formal analysis of this relation. This analysis allows us…
Comparability of Values, Rough Equality, and Vagueness
There are several different forms of comparability involving prudential values. Comparisons of values in the abstract, of realizations of some value, and of options which realize values, are distinct, and related, though not mutually exclusive. Furthermore, if rough equality is thought of as an evaluative relation in terms of which comparisons can be made, it does not imply incomparability. If it involves epistemic vagueness, this does not imply …
Aristotle and sartre on the human condition
1998). Aristotle and sartre on the human condition: lack, responsibility and the desire to be god. Angelaki: Vol. 3, Impurity, authenticity and humanity, pp. 29-37
Obligation, Human Frailty, and Utilitarianism
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Capabilities, well‐being and human development
Economists have moved away from thinking of development in terms of growth of per capita GNP. The most influential alternative conception of development ‐ due to Amartya Sen ‐ involves judging the quality of life in terms of capabilities and viewing development as a ‘capability expansion’. This article argues that Sen's approach is an inadequate account of development. It is further argued that other versions of the approach ‐ involving the work …
Ethical development
Yuli's birthday party
1996). Yuli's birthday party: A philosophical short story. Angelaki: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 79-85
A weakness of the capability approach with respect to gender justice
This paper is concerned with certain ways in which people adjust to deprivation. Capability egalitarians cite cases where people adjust to deprivation by adapting their preferences to discredit welfarist egalitarianism. I argue that this phenomenon is an example of a larger set of cases, where people adjust their abilities and dispositions in the face of deprivation: I term such abilities and dispositions ‘compensating abilities’. When these deve…
Needs, Incommensurability and Well-being
Some have argued for the priority of needs in moral and development theory, on the grounds that people have conflicting and incommensurable values and conceptions of the good. In this paper, I concentrate on one version of this view, that due to John Rawls. Rawls' view is that a person's advantage should be evaluated in terms of certain primary goods which are citizens' needs. I outline a variation on James Griffin's account of well-being, which …
Pluralism and well-being indices
The Concept of Well-Being
The concept of well-being is central to the subject matter of moral philosophy as well as economics. According to some moral theorists (particularly utilitarians) morality is about the maximization of social well-being. According to others, notably John Rawls (1972) we ought to give particular priority to the worst off members in society. Both these and other moral positions, whatever the priority they attach to different members of society in ar…
Aristotle and sartre on the human condition
1998). Aristotle and sartre on the human condition: lack, responsibility and the desire to be god. Angelaki: Vol. 3, Impurity, authenticity and humanity, pp. 29-37
The Rejection of Objective Consequentialism
Frances Howard-Snyder argues that objective consequentialism should be rejected because it violates the principle of ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ in asking us to do what we cannot. In this comment I suggest that Howard-Snyder does not take sufficiently seriously the chief defence of objective consequentialism, which reformulates it so that it applies only to actions we can perform. Nonetheless, I argue that there are arguments relating to ‘ought’ implie…
Comparability of Values, Rough Equality, and Vagueness
There are several different forms of comparability involving prudential values. Comparisons of values in the abstract, of realizations of some value, and of options which realize values, are distinct, and related, though not mutually exclusive. Furthermore, if rough equality is thought of as an evaluative relation in terms of which comparisons can be made, it does not imply incomparability. If it involves epistemic vagueness, this does not imply …
Sustainable Development
One way of thinking about development - endorsed by the UNDP and the Brundtland Commission - involves improvements in the quality of life which are equitable. This conception invokes two values - equity and well-being - which can conflict. The potential conflict suggests that countries which are doing well in terms of well-being may perform badly on environmental concerns. Desai argued to the contrary that there are positive linkages between huma…
Development, Common Foes and Shared Values
There is considerable common ground among various positions--involving needs, capabilities, prudential values and basic goods--in the literature about advantage and development. The well-known debate about the relative merits of various spaces relating to advantage, associated with Amartya Sen, has tended to obscure this point. Differences among the relevant positions often have to do with the context in which they are developed, or strategies in…
Rationality, comparability and maximization
James Griffin (1986, 1997, 2000) and Ruth Chang (1997) have argued that alternatives (and values) can be comparable when it is neither true that one is better than the other, nor true that they are exactly equal in value. The relation which holds between them has gone under various names: the alternatives are ‘roughly equal in value’ (Griffin) or ‘on a par’ (Chang). In this paper, I give a formal analysis of this relation. This analysis allows us…
On the Arbitrariness and Robustness of Multi-Dimensional Poverty Rankings
It is often argued that multi-dimensional measures of well-being and poverty -- such as those based on the capability approach and related views -- are ad hoc. Rankings based on them are not, for this reason, robust to changes in the selection of weights used. In this paper, it is argued that the extent of potential arbitrariness and the range of issues relating to robustness have been underestimated in this context. Several issues relating to bo…
Special Editor's Introduction
This special issue of the Journal of Human Development brings together a selection of papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on the Capability Approach, which was held at the Unive...
Sen on Freedom and Gender Justice
This comment on the special double issue of Feminist Economics on Amartya Sen's work discusses a number of themes and evaluates certain criticisms and claims in the volume. Sen's work involves a complex differentiation of distinct aspects of freedom. This differentiation is relevant to a number of criticisms. It is particularly helpful in evaluating various claims about Sen's focus on and the adequacy of his account of freedom. The article also c…
Transitivity and Vagueness
Axiomatic utility theory plays a foundational role in some accounts of normative principles. In this context, it is sometimes argued that transitivity of “better than” is a logical truth. Larry Temkin and Stuart Rachels use various examples to argue that “better than” is non–transitive, and that transitivity is not a logical truth. These examples typically involve some sort of “discontinuity.” In his discussion of one of these examples, John Broo…
The Capability Approach and Fuzzy Poverty Measures
“Well-Being, Adaptation and Human Limitations”
Philosophical accounts of human well-being face a number of significant challenges. In this paper, I shall be primarily concerned with one of these. It relates to the possibility, noted by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen amongst others, that people's desires and attitudes are malleable and can ‘adapt’ in various ways to the straitened circumstances in which they live. If attitudes or desires adapt in this way it can be argued that the relevant de…
Well-Being, Adaptation and Human Limitations
Philosophical accounts of human well-being face a number of significant challenges. In this paper, I shall be primarily concerned with one of these. It relates to the possibility, noted by Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen amongst others, that people’s desires and attitudes are malleable and can ‘adapt’ in various ways to the straitened circumstances in which they live. If attitudes or desires adapt in this way it can be argued that the relevant de…
Introduction
The Fifth International Conference on the Capability Approach on ‘Knowledge and Public Action’ took place in Paris in autumn 2005. It was also the first post‐launch conference of the Human Developm...
Introduction
The Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA) met at the University of Groningen in the early autumn of 2006. As with the previous conferences in Pavia and Paris, the Groningen conference...
The Mere Addition Paradox, Parity and Vagueness
Derek Parfit’s mere addition paradox has generated a large literature. This paper articulates one response to this paradox—which Parfit himself suggested—in terms of a formal account of the relation of parity. I term this response the ‘parity view’. It is consistent with transitivity of ‘at least as good as’, but implies incompleteness of this relation. The parity view is compatible with critical‐band utilitarianism if this is adjusted to allow f…
Social choice and individual capabilities
Amartya Sen has recently suggested that certain issues which arise in the application of the capability approach can be seen in terms of social choice. This article explores certain connections and tensions between Kenneth Arrow's celebrated discussion of social choice and the capability approach while focusing on one central link: pluralism. Given the variety of values people hold, substantive issues which arise in the application of the capabil…
Epistemology (26 works) · Sociology (25 works) · Philosophy (23 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (23 works) · Political science (23 works) · Economics (22 works) · Law (19 works) · Income, Poverty, and Inequality (16 works) · Philosophy (16 works) · Positive economics (16 works)