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Utilitarian and Welfarist Approaches to Social Development: A.K. Sen’s Critique
Social development focuses on improving well-being, reducing poverty, and increasing opportunities for all individuals in a society. Two major economic approaches to social development are Utilitarianism and Welfarism. However, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been a strong critic of these approaches, arguing that they fail to fully capture human well-being and justice.
This blog explores the utilitarian and welfarist approaches, their limitations, and A.K. Sen’s critique, which led to the development of the capability approach—a broader and more inclusive framework for social development.
1️⃣ Utilitarian Approach to Social Development
🔹 What is Utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism, developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, is an ethical and economic theory that measures social progress based on the principle of “the greatest happiness for the greatest number.”
📌 Key Features of Utilitarianism:
- Social policies should be evaluated based on their impact on total happiness or utility.
- Utility = Pleasure (Happiness) – Pain (Suffering).
- A good society is one that maximizes total well-being.
🔹 Utilitarian Approach in Economics
- In economic policy, utilitarianism supports income redistribution to improve overall welfare.
- Social welfare is measured by aggregate utility, often using GDP or total income.
- Policies are judged based on how much they increase overall happiness, even if some individuals lose out.
🔹 Limitations of Utilitarianism
❌ Ignores inequality → Two societies with the same total happiness are considered equal, even if one has extreme poverty and the other has equal wealth distribution.
❌ Ignores rights and freedoms → Happiness does not always mean justice. A system that maximizes utility but allows for oppression (e.g., slavery) is still considered acceptable.
❌ Interpersonal comparisons of utility are difficult → How do we measure happiness accurately?
❌ Focuses only on outcomes, not opportunities → It ignores how individuals achieve well-being.
2️⃣ Welfarist Approach to Social Development
🔹 What is Welfarism?
Welfarism is a broader economic framework that focuses on maximizing social welfare. It builds on utilitarianism but allows for more flexible definitions of well-being.
📌 Key Features of Welfarism:
- Welfare is defined in terms of individual preferences and well-being.
- Policies are evaluated based on how much they increase social welfare.
- It allows for some concern about inequality, but still measures welfare in terms of overall satisfaction.
🔹 Welfarism in Economics
- The Pigouvian approach to welfare economics suggests that the government should intervene in markets to correct inequalities and externalities (e.g., taxation on pollution).
- Pareto optimality: A state where no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off.
🔹 Limitations of Welfarism
❌ Still relies on measuring individual well-being through utility, which can be problematic.
❌ Ignores how welfare is distributed → Two societies with different levels of inequality can have the same social welfare score.
❌ Assumes rational choices → People do not always make decisions that maximize their well-being (e.g., addiction, poor financial choices).
3️⃣ Amartya Sen’s Critique of Utilitarianism and Welfarism
Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, strongly criticized both utilitarianism and welfarism, arguing that they fail to capture real human well-being. He proposed a capability approach, which focuses on freedoms and opportunities rather than just happiness or welfare.
🔹 Sen’s Key Criticisms:
📌 1. Focus on Utility is Too Narrow
- Happiness and satisfaction are not the only measures of well-being.
- A poor, oppressed person may report high happiness because they have low expectations, but this does not mean they are well-off.
- Example: Women in patriarchal societies may feel satisfied despite having few rights.
📌 2. Ignores Freedom and Rights
- Utilitarianism does not consider whether people have real choices and freedoms.
- A society with limited rights but high happiness (e.g., North Korea) could be seen as “good” under utilitarian logic.
📌 3. Ignores Inequality
- Welfarism still focuses on total welfare rather than how it is distributed.
- A society where a few people control most resources can still be considered successful.
- Example: GDP growth in India has improved total welfare, but extreme inequality still exists.
📌 4. Adaptive Preferences Problem
- People adjust their expectations to difficult conditions, meaning their reported happiness does not reflect their real well-being.
- Example: A person living in extreme poverty may say they are happy because they don’t know a better life.
4️⃣ Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach: A Better Alternative
🔹 What is the Capability Approach?
Instead of focusing on happiness or total welfare, Sen argued that we should focus on what people are actually able to do and be—their capabilities.
📌 Key Features of the Capability Approach:
✅ Well-being is about real freedoms and choices → Can a person pursue the life they value?
✅ Goes beyond income and happiness → Looks at education, healthcare, political freedoms, and social inclusion.
✅ Measures social development based on opportunities, not just outcomes.
🔹 Application in Social Policy
✔ The Human Development Index (HDI), developed by the UN, is based on Sen’s approach.
✔ Governments should focus on empowering individuals rather than just redistributing income.
✔ Focus on policies that improve health, education, and political rights, not just GDP growth.
5️⃣ Conclusion: Moving Beyond Utilitarianism and Welfarism
✅ Utilitarianism and welfarism provide a basic framework for evaluating social progress, but they have major limitations.
✅ Amartya Sen’s capability approach is a more inclusive way to measure social development because it considers freedom, opportunities, and real choices.
✅ Policy Implications: Governments should focus on expanding capabilities—ensuring that all people have access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, rather than just maximizing total happiness or welfare.