Sen
contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy, Welfare Economics, Development Ethicsb. 1933
Amartya Sen (born 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher whose work spans welfare economics, social choice theory, and development ethics. He is best known for the capability approach, which reframes human well-being in terms of substantive freedoms rather than income or utility. His analyses of famine, gender inequality, and global justice have made him one of the most influential public intellectuals of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Notable Achievements
1
Developed the capability approach to human development and well-being, co-elaborated with Martha Nussbaum
2
Awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1998) for contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory
3
Identified the 'missing women' phenomenon, quantifying gender-based mortality discrimination in South Asia and China
4
Revitalized social choice theory through work on Arrow's impossibility theorem and informational bases of justice
5
Authored 'Development as Freedom' (1999), redefining development policy around substantive human freedoms