An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution

Rating:
Summary: Excellent starting point for studies in development
Review: Many will probably notice the similarity to "Development as Freedom," the book by '98 Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Prof. Dasgupta has a very definite philosophical structure to analysing well-being and destitution, and he never loses sight of that. Both Sen and Dasgupta pay a lot of attention to analysing the moral principles of rights and how these can be used to understand well-being. However, I greatly prefer this book to Sen's, because Sen's is a series of lectures and this is a cohesive, well-connected book (545 pp.).

From the principles of rights, and their role in well-being, Dasgupta branches out to the whole universe of development in a refreshingly calm, non-ideological way. Moreover, the bibliography in this book is very good: if you are following the notes in the text, D. points the way to a wide range of intelectual opportunities.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent starting point for studies in development
Review: Many will probably notice the similarity to "Development as Freedom," the book by '98 Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Prof. Dasgupta has a very definite philosophical structure to analysing well-being and destitution, and he never loses sight of that. Both Sen and Dasgupta pay a lot of attention to analysing the moral principles of rights and how these can be used to understand well-being. However, I greatly prefer this book to Sen's, because Sen's is a series of lectures and this is a cohesive, well-connected book (545 pp.).

From the principles of rights, and their role in well-being, Dasgupta branches out to the whole universe of development in a refreshingly calm, non-ideological way. Moreover, the bibliography in this book is very good: if you are following the notes in the text, D. points the way to a wide range of intelectual opportunities.