Capabilities, Well-being and Universalism

An account of how issues of well-being are addressed from the perspective of the capabilities approach, with particular reference to the work of Martha Nussbaum, and questions of universality. It sets what is distinctive in the capabilities approach, as established by Sen and developed by Nussbaum, the following sections in this chapter explore two areas highlighting how a capabilities approach will be both illuminating, and contentious. One is the degree to which we can generalise about human capabilities across cultures and contexts. The other is the life course, and specifically whether children and adults should be seen as having mutually distinct capabilities, or a continuous, shared set