Human_Needs

Human Needs What makes a life a truly human one' Is it possible to make a sort of identification when a “life has been so impoverished that it is not worthy of the dignity of the human being'” (Women, Culture and Development, p.74). This is the very question Martha Nussbaum, leading female Aristotelian philosopher, addresses throughout various pieces of her work. What she has tried to do is establish a list of central capabilities “that can be convincingly argued to be of central importance in any human life; whatever else the person pursues or chooses” (Women, Culture and Development, p.74). Nussbaum’s goal is to clarify and develop the so-called “capabilities approach”, an approach to the recognition of the quality of life originally presented by the Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen. I intend to evaluate and analyze Nussbaum’s work on the subject from the perspective of Cicero and the Stoics and that of non-Western thinkers. What's more, I hope to set in motion a new conceptualization concerning the assessment and attainment of the good life. In view of the list of capabilities, Nussbaum supposes that if a life lacks any of these said capabilities, no matter what else needs, autonomy, need, life, basic, development, being, society, justice, good, one, individual, cannot, question, human, approach, should, choose, best, wealth, view, very, through, social, poverty, person, must, make, inequalities, environment, choice, because, within, version, understanding, understand