This seminar will be devoted to reading Amartya Sen’s book: The Idea of Justice. The main goal will
be to acquire a comprehensive understanding of Sen’s conception of social
justice by means of a careful reading of the book. This will enable us to discuss
important topics such as: a) the notion of “capability” and the question of
freedom, b) the ethics of development and the problem of poverty, c) the
relationships between economics, ethics and politics, d) the means and purpose
of public policies and political action. Since Amartya Sen articulates his idea
of justice in contrast to Rawl’s theory of justice, we will also examine the
discussion with Rawls that develops throughout the book.
