Martha Nussbaum’s Creating

Capabilities
- Reading guide
• Read chapter 2 and 3 and respond to the questions. It is strongly recommended that
you craft a conceptual map/summary/ideas guide of the book as you go.

Chapter 2 “The Central Capabilities - Questions

a. Why does Nussbaum prefer the "capabilities approach" to the "Human Development
approach”?
b. According to Nussbaum, how does the “capabilities approach” compare to the
Kantian “categorical imperative”? (p. 18)
a. … To Bentham or Mills’ utilitarian approach?
b. … To a Rawlsian justice concept?
c. What are capabilities? (p. 20)
d. What distinguishes the internal capabilities from combined capabilities? (p. 21)
e. Who is Rabindranath Tagore? (p. 23)
f. What is the challenge of “basic capabilities”? (p. 24)
g. What distinguishes “capabilities” from “functionings”? (p. 24)
h. What are capabilities that allow for “human dignity”? (p. 29)
i. What does a life worthy of human dignity require? (p. 32)
j. What do you think of Nussbaum’s ten Central Capabilities? (pp. 33-34)
k. How might these be extended to non-human animals?
l. What is the challenge of the “tragic choice”?
m. Explain Nussbaum's idea of "thresholds"? Are these universal? Should they be
universal

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Chapter 3 “A Necessary Counter-Theory” - Questions

The Big Questions

a. What constitutes a decent quality of life?
b. How does anyone achieve a decent quality of life?
c. What seems to be the dominant paradigm for recognizing “the good life”?
d. How do we determine what counts as “real opportunity”?
e. What assurances are there that people can be provided opportunities for activity and
choice to be able to be and to do those capabilities that are required for being a full
human?

The GDP Approach

a. What is GDP and what exactly does it measure?
b. What are the three specific problems of the GDP approach according to Nussbaum?

The Utilitarian Approach

a. What is Nussbaum’s concern about malleability of preferences and satisfaction in
utilitarianism? What are “adaptive preferences”?
b. What is the challenge of freedom and satisfaction for utilitarianism?

Resource-based Approaches
a. What are the challenges for a resource-based approach?

Capabilities and the Measurement Question

a. What is the concern regarding the “fallacy of measurement”?
a. United Nations Development Program: http://hdr.undp.org/en/2020-report. This
years the them is “The Next Frontier: Human Development and the
Anthropocene” (“people’s agency and empowerment can bring about the action
we need if we are to live in balance with the planet in a fairer world.”
b. Is there, should there be a “threshold level of fundamental entitlement”? What might
that threshold look like? How would it be identified? How could it be confidently
addressed and met?

Human Rights Approaches

a. What do you think is the relationship between human rights and human dignity?
b. Do you think there is a duty to adhere to a basic standard of human rights? How might
that standard be realized?
c. What is the distinction between negative rights and positive rights?
d. What is the challenge of either of these conceptions of rights?
a. UN UDHR: https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/#1

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