Well-being and living life to the full : reducing injustice with the capability approach and moral theology

Abstract

The paper is structured as follows: section 2 briefly introduces the capability approach. Section 3 analyzes the villas of Buenos Aires and underlines some limitations of using the capability approach on its own to assess, judge, and transform social realities from the perspective of human freedom it advocates. Section 4 justifies the engagement between the capability approach and moral theology as expressed in Catholic social thought. Section 5 examines some contributions moral theology can make to reducing injustices in the contexts of the villas, by drawing on Trinitarian anthropology and parables of the New Testament. The paper concludes by discussing the relevance of our argument beyond Christian theology and Latin America.