The standard of living : the Tanner lectures : Clare Hall, Cambridge, 1985

Amartya Sen argues that ''the standard of living'' has been poorly understood and narrowly defined; it is not just a function of opulence, and cannot be seen as utility. It is, he suggests, the ''capabilities'' offered in states of affairs. In his comments, Bernard Williams considers the conceptual connections among Sen's capabilities, economic welfare, and the broader notion of ''well-being'', and asks whether the notion raises questions of justice. Ravi Kanbur considers the implications of the uncertainty in the choice that might be thought to be one desirable capability. John Muellbauer offers a specification of choice, and discusses the importance, for assessing capabilities, of the relation between preferences and constraints and between preferences themselves. Keith Hart explores the issue for those societies in which economic life is not fully ''commoditized'' and in which, therefore, it does not always make sense to reduce things to a price. Sen concludes with replies to these comments. Amartya Sen reconsiders the idea of 'the standard of living'. He rejects the more conventional economic interpretations in terms of 'unity' and of wealth or 'opulence', and suggests an interpretation in terms of the 'capabilities and freedoms' that states of affairs do or do not allow. Amartya Sen reconsiders the idea ofthe standard of living?. His argument is conceptual, but it refers to a wide range of examples Reconsiders the idea of "the standard of living" and reflects on the moral and political implications Diversity is indeed part of the traditional picture of the living standard.