The Capability Metric Of Justice

As the third approach of justice,the capability approach proposes the capability metric as the information focus of individual life.Its uniqueness has been fully demonstrated both in domestic and foreign researches.Before further proceeding,it is necessary to determine the capability metics and clarify its position in the discussion of justice,so as to avoid some potential misunderstandings.Justice aims at distributing social benefits,which can be defined as an angecy owning something according to the principle of distribution.‘Metics of justic’ which conceptualize all the distribution implies a certain way to inspect our individual lives.Amartya Sen proposed the capability metric to make up for the defects of well-being and resource metric in measuring and arranging people’s lives.The capability approach holds the view that a set of functionings,doings and beings,constitute the individual life.The capability which embodies substantial freedom is the opportunity of options to realize the functioning.Any factor that prevents an individual from realizing a particular function which he values is regarded as an interference of freedom or a deprivation of capability.Functionings and capabilities are irrelevant,interdependent or exclusive.Persons have different conversion factors which determine the degree to which a person can transform a resource into a functioning.Individuals choose whether to realize a specific capability as a functioning according to their preferences.Everyone has his own preference,and each preference risks being distorted.The capability approach argues that human diversity should be considered as a basic issue amid justice discussion.After the definition of the capability metric having been expounded,two specific capability theories are presented to examine their different applications of t he capability matric.Nussbaum divides capabilities into basic,internal and combined capabilities,and lists the core capabilities based on human dignity.She argues that all human beings should be guaranteed the capabilities on the list,which is the bottom line of social justice,and the distribution is open after meeting the bottom line.Alkire pointed out that capabilities can effectively reflect,capture and communicate the multidimensional poverty,so poverty means the deprivation of capabilities.She constructs the multidimensional poverty index with the capability metric,opposes the ‘one size fits all’ capability list,and provides some proper ways to choose the capability dimensions.After the dimensions of capability having been confirmed,the construction of multidimensional poverty indicators also needs to consider the index,the threshold of deprivation and the weight of capabilities.By responding to Dworkin’s theory,the capability metric has been clarified in terms of personal responsibility and social environment factors when measuring personal circumstances.In order to resist Co hen’s "midfare",Sen proposed ‘counterfactual choice’,emphasizing the importance of individual will,which not only made Cohen’s criticism invalid,but also made clear the unique ness of the capability metric.The capability metric takes into account the potential of human circumstances,which means that the application of it also faces more risks.