Week 5

Martha C. Naussbaum: The Central Human Functional Capabilities

Nussbaum is writing on the capabilities of humans. I agree with most of what she is saying when it comes to what people should have to have lived a full life. However, she describes some limitations to this happiness. If you have a handicap, for instance you are physically challenged or mentally challenged, to me it seems that she says that if you cannot fulfil these requirements you are not a complete person and you won’t have lives a full life and you are less of a human for it. Her approach is called a "capabilities approach" to development, which views capabilities or "substantial freedoms", such as the ability to live to old age, engage in economic transactions, participate in political activities, or have a healthy sexual relationship, as the constitutive parts of development, and poverty as capability-deprivation. I believed her view of humanity is skewed. If she never grew up in poverty, how would she know these people did not live a complete life? Everyone finds happiness in different things, whether it be with family, through sexual relationships, through religious affiliations, or any unlimited source. I know this is her take on what a good human life should be, however, a good human life to an older white woman, growing up in the United State and a good human life to someone living in a different part of the world can be completely different.