The Ethical Study On Amartya Sen’s View Of Development

In a globalized world, the development is a major issue for every country and nation. Theconcept of development is the core issue in the study of the development theory. Among thestudies on development issues, the concept of free development, which is proposed byAmartya Sen, the1998Nobel Laureate in Economics, Dean of the London School ofEconomics, is undoubtedly important. He breaks through the limitations of the narrowconcept of development of traditional economic growth, and his study of economy focuses onthe human rights and freedom, which fixes the serious situation of long-standing separation ofeconomics and ethics, and reconstructs the ethical aspects in the study of economy. It is amajor feature of Amartya Sen and is a main logical line through his whole developmenttheory to use ethical principles to guide the development. The thesis is to elucidate AmartyaSen’s concept of development from the perspective of ethics.The thesis first studies Amartya Sen’s definition of freedom, and then traces the sourcesof his idea of considering development from the perspective of freedom. Amartya Sen hasinherited Aristotle’s concept of "good is happiness" and "Happiness is the ultimate purpose oflife", and has drawn Adam Smith’s economic idea of emphasis on people’s capabilities.Besides, Marx’s idea on freedom also plays a certain role in guiding Sen’s idea. Amartya Senhas his unique understanding and definition for the concept of development. Amartya Sen’sconcept of development has his significant ethical qualities. Amartya Sen has proposed theneed to rethink the development of economics, to explore the ethical values of economics, andto emphasize on the development of welfare economics.Amartya Sen integrates the ethical concepts and value judgments into socialdevelopment, emphasizing the goal of development is to achieve substantive freedoms ofhuman, that is to say, the capacity of enjoying the kind of life which people have reason tocherish. The development is not only to promote the freedom, but also to spread thedemocracy. Besides, development should also be a kind of sustainable development.The thesis further explains a series of insights that Amartya Sen has on the relationshipbetween freedom and development. In analyzing the relationship between freedom anddevelopment, Amartya Sen believes that freedom is the primary objective of development,freedom is a mean to improve development, freedom is the evaluation criteria of the reasonableness of social development, and the development should be based on the overalldevelopment of freedom.Amartya Sen’s ethical thought can be effectively used to analyze and solve a series ofmajor practical social problems. We can see that Amartya Sen uses his own development ethicto analyze the phenomenon of poverty and famine which still exist worldwide, to maintain theinterests of vulnerable groups, and commits to achieving the substantive freedom. His conceptof development as well as his ethical thought which is contained in his concept ofdevelopment can be referred to examine and resolve theoretical confusion and practicalproblems existing in the current Chinese social life.