A Practical Reasoning Theory of Development Ethics: Furthering the Capabilities Approach

Thoughtful discussions of the value judgements employed in the course of designing development, such as those exemplified in Nussbaum and Glover’s volume Women Culture and Development, are rapidly proliferating, such that even the World Bank’s president asserted ‘that the World Bank’s central mission is to meld economic assistance with spiritual, ethical, and moral development’ (World Bank 1996:1). In light of the need to apply development ethics more widely and satisfactorily it is necessary to consider what Glover (Nussbaum and Glover, 1995: 135) referred to as the first agenda item of a research programme for development ethics: rendering a “more precise account” of the values and principles employed in the making of development decisions. This paper sets out certain constructive suggestions in response to Nussbaum’s article on human capabilities. While this paper is theoretical, our concerns arise out of, and our suggestions have been refracted through, practical considerations, and we offer them in the hope that the capabilities approach may become more readily operational in the field.