Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings Flashcards
Who is Martha Nassbaum and what does she discuss / question?
Question of human development:
Various social contract theories focus on protecting opportunities, redistribution of resources. But still may fail to address underlying problems of justice, ie equality based on gender, global inequalities (income, resources, health)
Amartya Sen and Martha Nassbuam famously argued for variations of the capabilities view; what do they say?
Instead of focusing on redistributions of resources, should focus on meeting the needs for functioning problems; revisit Amy Crowly case (example of deaf court case)
What is the best way to develop human capabilities?
All humans are born naked and poor. All are subject to all kinds of pain. All are condemned to death, no mortal can avoid. Begin by studying what constitutes humanness.
What Is Nassbaums view?
Historically informed (don’t need to abstract views of human nature)
Cross-cutting national and temporal boundaries
Neither biological nor metaphysical, but normative
Use ‘human being’ instead of person because of problematic historical use of person
Capabilities level one
those things that if we did not have, we would lack the capacity to be human.
What is capability?
Life without this time would make it impossible to live as a human; serves as a minimal conception of the good
What are the two thresholds to human life?
Threshold of capability to function beneath which a life will also be so impoverished that it will not be a human life at all
A somewhat higher threshold, beneath which these characteristic functions are available in such a reduced way that we may judge that form of a human life, we will not think of it as a good human life
What is Antiliminaticist Construct Theory
Is a philosophical conceptions that believes race is a social kind, rather than a natural kind
People group certain people together based on assumptions. Thus, people have preconceived notions and treat others differently based on factors such as race or gender
Example: healthcare system and maternal mortality rates among people of color
With formal equality, these issues are not going to improve. But, by looking t it with social construct theory, it allows us to see the problem at hand and how to address it
What are social categories? How are they important? And how can they relate into life?
Meaningful because they explain why people of certain races are looked at differently; it is hierarchical
Healthcare industry: those who are looked down upon can be due to outside factors involving construction of race
Why is social contract theory important?
So we can address this problem by using a social kind of race opposed to a racial point of view, or those who claim race does not exist. In doing so, it allows us to understand how race is looked at as a social construct, and how this can be harmful in our society.
