The Equality of the Differences-Sen's Critique of Rawls' Theory of Justice and Its Implications for Welfare Economics-

B4

This paper studies an alternative methodology in which injustice can be more central by examining the implication of Sen's criticism of Rawls' theory of justice in the context of welfare economics. We have seen that, first, taking a step forward from "justice as fairness" may not belie the background thoughts of Rawls theory on the equality of differences, second, Sen's criticism of "justice as fairness" is closely related to the methodology of the "new welfare economics". To replace the index of social primary goods by the index of capability changes the formulation of distribution rules as well as the formulations of social choice rules. These two issues are actually the two poles of the "new welfare economics". The underlying purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the reach and the possibilities of welfare economics today.