Bringing Ethics into the Capitalist Model: Amartya Sen’s Approach to Economic Theory and Financial Capitalism
Among the variety of criticisms aimed at capitalism in the wake of the recent crisis, Amartya Sen’s approach, reconciling ethics and capitalism, calls for greater diversity and pluralism from a theoretical, but also a practical perspective. He defends capitalism as the system best suited to provide freedoms, while criticising its theoretical foundations and monolithic dimension. This paper discusses how Sen’s ethical dimension alters the representation of capitalism, while also considering Sen’s academic career within and without the Anglo-Saxon world. Section one deals with Sen’s criticism of neoclassical utilitarian foundations and with his own pluralistic approach. The second part of the paper discusses his recommendations on improving social justice with regard to financial capitalism, with emphasis on how they have been received in the Anglo-Saxon countries where he has worked.