Single Idea 21013

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 1. Basis of justice]

Full Idea

The capabilities approach grounds rights claims in bare human birth and minimal agency, not in rationality or any other specific property, something that permits it to recognise the equal human rights of people with cognitive disabilities.

Gist of Idea

Capabilities are grounded in bare humanity and agency; qualifying as rational is not needed

Source

Martha Nussbaum (Creating Capabilities [2011], 3)

Book Reference

Nussbaum,Martha C.: 'Creating Capabilities' [Belknap Harvard 2013], p.63


A Reaction

She says elsewhere that she also sees animals as included in the capabilities approach. This is a rejection of the Kantian grounds for rights (by a well-known Aristotelian).

Related Idea

Idea 21019 Social contracts assume equal powers among the participants [Nussbaum]