Amartya Sen (Contemporary Philosophy in Focus)

242 Pages·2009·1.23 MB·English

by  Christopher W. Morris

This page intentionally left blank
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1998
“forhiscontributionstowelfareeconomics.”Althoughhisprimaryacademic
appointments have been mostly in economics, Sen is also a prominent social
theoristandphilosopher.Hisworkonsocialchoicetheoryisseminal,andhis
writingsonpoverty,famine,anddevelopment,aswellashiscontributionsto
moralandpoliticalphilosophy,areimportantandinfluential.Sen’sviewsabout
thenatureandprimacyoflibertyalsomakehimamajorcontemporaryliberal
thinker.
ThisvolumeofessaysonaspectsofSen’sworkisaimedatabroadaudience
ofreadersinterestedinsocialtheory,politicalphilosophy,ethics,publicpolicy,
welfare economics, the theory of rational choice, poverty, and development.
Writtenbyateamofwell-knownexperts,eachchapterprovidesanoverview
ofSen’sworkinaparticularareaandacriticalassessmentofhiscontributions
tothefield.
ChristopherW.MorrisisprofessorofphilosophyattheUniversityofMary-
land,CollegePark.HeistheauthorofAnEssayontheModernStateandcoedi-
tor,withArthurRipstein,ofPracticalRationalityandPreference:EssaysforDavid
Gauthier.

Contemporary Philosophy in Focus
ContemporaryPhilosophyinFocusoffersaseriesofintroductoryvolumes
tomanyofthedominantphilosophicalthinkersofthecurrentage.Eachvol-
umeconsistsofnewlycommissionedessaysthatcovermajorcontributionsof
apreeminentphilosopherinasystematicandaccessiblemanner.Comparable
inscopeandrationaletothehighlysuccessfulseriesCambridgeCompanions
to Philosophy, the volumes do not presuppose that readers are already inti-
matelyfamiliarwiththedetailsofeachphilosopher’swork.Theythuscombine
expositionandcriticalanalysisinamannerthatwillappealtostudentsofphi-
losophyandtoprofessionals,aswellastostudentsacrossthehumanitiesand
socialsciences.
VOLUMESINTHESERIES:
StanleyCavelleditedbyRichardEldridge
PaulChurchlandeditedbyBrianKeeley
DonaldDavidsoneditedbyKirkLudwig
DanielDennetteditedbyAndrewBrookandDonRoss
RonaldDworkineditedbyArthurRipstein
ThomasKuhneditedbyThomasNickles
AlasdairMacIntyreeditedbyMarkMurphy
RichardRortyeditedbyCharlesGuignonandDavidHiley
JohnSearleeditedbyBarrySmith
CharlesTayloreditedbyRuthAbbey
BernardWilliamseditedbyAlanThomas

Amartya Sen
Edited by
CHRISTOPHER W. MORRIS
UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore,
São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521852913
© Cambridge University Press 2010
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2009
ISBN-13 978-0-511-65199-1 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-85291-3 Hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-61806-9 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
For Terence Moore, in memoriam