چکیده:
One of the fundamental issues in contemporary political and economic thought concerns the relationship and consistency between one’s social duties and personal liberties, and different schools have suggested their views on the matter. From a normative point of view, arguments offered by modern reformist liberalism have attracted more attention in this respect. The positions of John Stuart Mill, as one of the pioneers and influential, and Amartya Kumar Sen as one of the most recent liberal reformists with respect to the idea of welfare, have been at the center of attention for several decades. Here we discuss and analyze the relationship of the concepts of individual liberty and social welfare as argued by them by employing a comparative approach, in order to provide a more elaborate picture of such a relationship. It is shown here that albeit using different methods and approaches, they share similar theoretical starting points and goals on the matter. For Mill, the liberty of the individual and society is viewed as a vital means for achieving happiness. While Mill employs a utilitarian approach to human happiness, offering a critique on utilitarianism and focusing rather on the capability approach, Sen holds that individual and social happiness would best be achieved through providing equal opportunities for free choice for the members of the society. A closer look at the arguments offered by Mill and Sen indicates that, based on the concept of the free and informed modern subject, they both believe that social and political development will improve an individual and social happiness will be better achieved by focusing on individual liberties.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Article Type: Research The Relationship between Individual Liberty and Social Welfare in the Thought of "John Stuart Mill" and "Amartya Sen" * 1 Seyyed Alireza Hosseini Beheshti Somayeh Maleki Dizbani ** Abstract One of the fundamental issues in contemporary political and economic thought has been the nature of the relationship and compatibility between social responsibilities and the protection of individual liberties, and various schools of thought have addressed the explanation of their views in this regard.
Mill strives to make human happiness possible through a utilitarian approach, whereas Sen, by criticizing utilitarianism and focusing on the capability approach, believes that creating equal opportunities for free choice for members of society is the most important way to achieve individual and social happiness.
In Mill's welfare theory, which is deeply linked to the valuation of individual liberty, what is recognized as causing personal welfare is the mental-psychological characteristic of happiness; and in Sen's scheme, which seeks to understand the shortcomings of the utilitarian approach dominant in welfare economics, shaped has taken shape, with the same degree of valuation for the human individual, a critique has been entered into the utilitarianism dominant in welfare thought, and another index called "capability" has been presented to measure individual welfare within the heart of society.
The present research, regarding the thoughts of Mill and Sen on the nature of the relationship between individual liberty and social welfare, will be conducted by examining each thinker's perspective on four main and important topics in this regard, namely "liberty," "justice," "welfare and happiness," and "the desirable governmental mechanism" to support these theoretical foundations.
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