Future Development as Freedom: The Capability Approach, Irrational Intuitions, and the Role of Emerging Technologies in Global Justice

This essay uses the “capability approach” to evaluate emerging technologies. It argues that the proper application of the capability approach can deflate misguided moral intuitions and ensure the ethical use of key emerging technologies. First, an outline is given of the ways in which the capability approach can be uniquely helpful in normative assessment. Two key examples of emerging technologies are then provided, and this normative framework is applied to their possible use in advancing development and global justice. It is concluded that the right application of the capability approach can provide a rational yet dynamic ethical evaluation of emerging technologies to increase human well-being.