Abstract:
This paper argues for the way in which the hermeneutics of human acti on (in
particular the technical dimension of action) and the capabilities approach are to be
coordinated in judgements regarding the happy life or well-being. To ensure that this
hypothesis is not only philosophically plausible but practically reasonable, I apply
it throughout to practical examples, namely practices related to the arrangement of
space. I argue that judgement regarding happiness or well-being requires two distinct
forms of reflection: (1) a hermeneutics (here derived from Ricoeur) that can do
justice to the thickness (in Geertz’s sense) of human living and (2) a thin standard
(in Walzer’s sense) of universal human functional capabilities, by which to point out
which insufficient conditions for action undermine human well-being (here presented
according to Nussbaum’s version of the capabilities approach). These two forms of
reflection, it will be argued, are theoretically compatible, yet remain – in practice – in
tension. Recognition of this tension has to accompany responsible judgement.
