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...

Informed or rational desire, capability and prudential value list views of well-being - mustaccommodate human limitations, as well as address issues about adaptation and paternalism. Theysometimes address adaptation by toughening the requirement(s) on those desires, satisfaction of...

Amartya Sen has advanced a number of distinct arguments against utilitarianism and‘utility’-based views more generally. One of these invokes various ways in whichunderdogs can ‘adapt’ and learn to live with their situations. Sen’s argument is related toJon Elster’s discussion of...

Do modern accounts of well-being which have influenced, or been adopted by, some economists encourage excessive ‘individualism’? I suggest that this question can be answered by considering two objections to modern views of welfare: (1) that they involve an impoverished view of persons and...

This paper examines the implications of some of the growing literature at the borderline of ethics and economics for development debates. It argues that this literature has already had considerable impact on development economics, particularly as a result of work on well-being and capabilities....

Amartya Sen has advanced a number of distinct arguments against utilitarianism and ‘utility’-based views more generally. One of these invokes various ways in which underdogs can ‘adapt’ and learn to live with their situations. Sen’s argument is related to Jon Elster’s discussion of...