Arguments for a Better World: Essays in Honor of Amartya Sen: Volume I edited by Kaushik Basu and Ravi Kanbur is a collection of essays that celebrate the life and work of one of the most influential thinkers of our time. Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and the Bharat Ratna in 1999, has made seminal contributions to the fields of ethics, welfare economics, social choice, poverty, capabilities, human development, and public economics. He has also been a champion of human rights, democracy, and pluralism, and a voice for the marginalized and oppressed.
The book is divided into four parts, each covering a broad theme that reflects Sen’s diverse interests and achievements. The first part deals with ethics, normative economics, and welfare, and explores the philosophical foundations of Sen’s approach to social justice, human well-being, and development. The second part focuses on agency, aggregation, and social choice, and examines the formal aspects of Sen’s contributions to collective decision-making, rationality, and social welfare. The third part addresses poverty, capabilities, and measurement, and evaluates Sen’s conceptualization and operationalization of poverty and human development indicators. The fourth part discusses identity, collective action, and public economics, and analyzes Sen’s insights on the role of identity, culture, and institutions in social change and economic development.
The book is written by some of the world’s leading economists, philosophers, and social scientists, who are either Sen’s students or peers. They offer both critical appraisals and extensions of Sen’s ideas, as well as personal tributes and anecdotes. The book is not only a fitting tribute to Sen’s intellectual legacy, but also a valuable resource for anyone interested in the theory and practice of a better world.