RAWLS, PRIMARY GOODS AND CAPABILITIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v13i3.64060Keywords:
Primary (social) goods, Original Position, Capabilities, Amartya SenAbstract
The choice of principles of justice as fairness, in John Rawls' thinking, takes place through the original position. In this procedure the parties would be under a veil of ignorance, and therefore would have no information about their psychological and moral conceptions, as well as information about their social classes, religion, etc. Despite not having this information, in the original position, the parties will choose the primary social goods. These primary goods, according to Rawls, are things that a rational person is conjectured to always want more than less. The Indian economist Amartya Sen, however, presents the main challenge to Rawlsian primary goods. The point made by the author is that primary goods are, at best, means to the ends valued in human life. Thus, primary goods are only means to other things, in particular to liberty. The Indian economist argues that the products of primary goods are not intended to be what people consider important for their lives. In this paper we aim to argue that Sen's critique of Rawlsian primary goods does not follow, and that this is particularly clear in Rawls' later works.
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