Abstract
Technology and the expansion of human capabilities are intimately related. This chapter discusses an influential philosophical framework that attaches central moral importance to human capabilities, namely, the so-called capability approach, and explains in which ways it has relevance for design. A distinction will be drawn between two different, although related, design applications of the capability approach. Firstly, in the “narrow” usage, the capability approach is seen as presenting a proper conceptualization of individual well-being, namely, in terms of the capabilities that a person has. The aim of design is then to contribute to the expansion of these capabilities, to which I refer as design for capabilities. I will discuss two challenges for design for capabilities, namely, an epistemological and an aggregation challenge. Secondly, in the “broad” usage, the capability approach is seen as a source of insight and inspiration for taking a broader range of values and concerns into account in design, most importantly agency and justice. From this perspective, so it is argued, strong parallels can be drawn with participatory design and universal design. In reality both the narrow and the broad usage of the capability approach in design should go hand in hand. The chapter ends with some reflections on the challenges ahead in making the philosophical literature on the capability approach accessible to and usable by designers.
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- 1.
This section should give designers a minimal basis for the “conceptual investigation phase” of the tripartite “value sensitive design” or VSD approach developed by Friedman and her colleagues (e.g., Friedman et al. 2001; see also Chap. 2 of this book). According to the VSD approach, these conceptual investigations should be closely intertwined with empirical and technical investigations throughout the design process. In that light, it could be considered an attractive feature of the capability approach that – in addition to the philosophical literature – there also exists a large and interdisciplinary body of literature discussing its “operationalization” and presenting empirical applications. This social science literature, although not further discussed in this chapter, may be relevant for designers in two ways. Firstly, the methodologies used to evaluate well-being and social arrangements in terms of human capabilities may also be useful for the evaluation of design alternatives or final design outcomes. Secondly, the results of such empirical studies may be useful, by providing designers with relevant knowledge about (a) stakeholder views on which human capabilities are important and how they should be understood and (b) factors contributing to or inhibiting the expansion of human capabilities in concrete contexts of usage.
- 2.
Both are already referred to implicitly in my article in Design Issues (Oosterlaken 2009), which talks about design that aims to expand human capabilities and also links the idea of “capability sensitive design” to participatory design and universal/inclusive design. Yet the explicit distinction made in this chapter was not made in that article.
- 3.
“Narrow” should not be read as implying a value judgment. See Robeyns (2011) for an explanation of the distinction between a narrow and a broad employment of the capability approach. She contrasts the broad usage in two different ways with the narrow usage (a) taking into consideration a broader range of values versus being concerned with well-being alone and (b) focusing on the evaluation of policies and social institutions vs. focusing on the well-being of individuals. I’m using distinction (a), applied to the normative evaluation of design, so comparable to the evaluation of policies and institutions in distinction (b).
- 4.
This means that there will be commonalities with some of the other chapters in this handbook, such as that on “Design for the Value of Human Well-Being,” “Design for the Values of Democracy and Justice,” and “Design for the Value of Inclusiveness.”
- 5.
In philosophical terms, these capabilities are – at least to some degree – incommensurable.
- 6.
It may be that increasing someone’s capability for social affiliation may turn out to be helpful as a means for expanding this person’s capability to be well nourished – yet they are both also ends in themselves and that is where the problem of trade-offs occurs.
- 7.
For example, in September 2009, the thematic group “Technology & Design” was established under the umbrella of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA). For a review of literature that has appeared on the topic until 2011, see the introductory chapter of the edited volume “The Capability Approach, Technology and Design” (Oosterlaken 2012).
- 8.
Social structures, in turn, are increasingly composed of both humans and technical artifacts, which is reflected in the phrase “socio-technical systems.”
- 9.
Although it is acknowledged by capability theorists that other evaluation criteria may also play a role.
- 10.
In a previous publication (Oosterlaken 2009), I called this “capability sensitive design, a variety on the term ‘value sensitive design’” (VSD). Yet VSD is a specific approach to taking values into account in design, as developed by Friedman and colleagues. This handbook uses “design for values” for the more general idea to include values in the design process, although occasional reference to the work of Friedman and colleagues is made as well.
- 11.
An example may be found in Derksen (2008). She concludes that tissue engineers working on heart valves often have a limited conception of functionality and are very much focused on trying to mimic nature, while according to Derksen, they should be more concerned with the impact of the biotechnologies they develop on people’s capabilities to play sports, going through pregnancy, etc. – so the sort of “beings and doings” that people have ultimately reason to value. Derksen does, by the way, not refer to the capability approach – even though what she says seems to fit in very well with that approach.
- 12.
- 13.
What is meant by the latter is that a certain more concrete conceptualization of an abstract capability should do justice to or at least cohere with the reasons we have to consider the abstract capability to be valuable in the first place.
- 14.
The distinction made here mirrors the distinction made by philosophers between positive duties of benevolence and negative duties not to harm, where the latter is in general considered to be stronger and less controversial than the former. But Van de Poel notices that “increasing or maximizing user well-being is often mentioned or assumed as goal in design.”
- 15.
Reference is made here to the “tripartite methodology as proposed by Friedman et al. (2001), consisting of integrated empirical, technical, and conceptual investigations. See also the entry on value sensitive design elsewhere in this handbook.
- 16.
I take this suggestion from an article by Ratan and Bailur on the capability approach and “ICT for Development” (2007).
- 17.
Van de Poel (forthcoming) points out that “the relation between the different layers of a values hierarchy is not deductive. Elements at the lower levels cannot be logically deduced from higher level elements. One reason for this is that the lower levels are more concrete or specific and that formulating them requires taking into account the specific context or design project for which the values hierarchy is constructed.”
- 18.
This example is inspired by an actual design project described in Kandachar et al. (2007).
- 19.
Van den Hoven et al. (2012) extensively argue along these lines concerning incommensurable values and moral dilemmas more broadly.
- 20.
A pilot was subsequently executed.
- 21.
See, e.g., the blog of Bruce Nussbaum titled “Is Humanitarian Design the New Imperialism?” (http://www.fastcodesign.com, blog from July 7th 2010).
- 22.
Zheng (2007) is speaking about applying the capability approach to the area of “ICT for Development (ICT4D),” and parallels may be drawn with applying it to design. She notes that “many of the issues unveiled by applying the capability approach are not new to e-development research.” Yet, she feels that the capability approach is “able to surface a set of key concerns systematically and coherently, on an explicit philosophical foundation,” and, “as a conceptual basis, could accommodate other theoretical perspectives in e-development,” like discourse analysis, institutional theory, social inclusion, the participative approach, local adaptation, and information culture.
- 23.
For example, what is the difference between the function of an artifact and the concept of “functionings” in the capability approach? What distinguishes a capacity or skill from a capability?
- 24.
Nussbaum’s list of 10 central capabilities may serve as a starting point for designers, but it has not been tested yet if and how it helps designers in their deliberations about their design project. Moreover, as discussed in section four, the list is quite abstract and applying it in design would still require quite a lot of additional work, so that “just” giving this list to designers is probably not enough.
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Acknowledgments
This research has been made possible by a grant from NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. The author would like to thank a number of people for their valuable feedback on earlier versions of this chapter: Annemarie Mink, Ibo van de Poel, Sabine Roeser, and Rafael Ziegler.
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Appendix
Appendix
Nussbaum’s 10 Central Capabilities
The complete and detailed list of central human capabilities according to Nussbaum (2002):
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1.
Life. Being able to live to the end of a human life of normal length; not dying prematurely, or before one’s life is so reduced as to be not worth living.
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2.
Bodily Health. Being able to have good health, including reproductive health; to be adequately nourished; to have adequate shelter.
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3.
Bodily Integrity. Being able to move freely from place to place; to be secure against violent assault, including sexual assault and domestic violence; having opportunities for sexual satisfaction and for choice in matters of reproduction.
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4.
Senses, Imagination, and Thought. Being able to use the senses, to imagine, think, and reason – and to do these things in a “truly human” way, a way informed and cultivated by an adequate education, including, but by no means limited to, literacy and basic mathematical and scientific training. Being able to use imagination and thought in connection with experiencing and producing works and events of one's own choice, religious, literary, musical, and so forth. Being able to use one's mind in ways protected by guarantees of freedom of expression with respect to both political and artistic speech, and freedom of religious exercise. Being able to have pleasurable experiences and to avoid non-beneficial pain.
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5.
Emotions . Being able to have attachments to things and people outside ourselves; to love those who love and care for us, to grieve at their absence; in general, to love, to grieve, to experience longing, gratitude, and justified anger. Not having one’s emotional development blighted by fear and anxiety.
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6.
Practical Reason. Being able to form a conception of the good and to engage in critical reflection about the planning of one’s life. (This entails protection for the liberty of conscience and religious observance.)
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7.
Affiliation.
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(a)
Being able to live with and toward others, to recognize and show concern for other humans, to engage in various forms of social interaction; to be able to imagine the situation of another. (Protecting this capability means protecting institutions that constitute and nourish such forms of affiliation, and also protecting the freedom of assembly and political speech.)
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(b)
Having the social bases of self-respect and non-humiliation; being able to be treated as a dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others. This entails provisions of non-discrimination on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, caste, religion, national origin and species.
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(a)
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8.
Other Species. Being able to live with concern for and in relation to animals, plants, and the world of nature.
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9.
Play. Being able to laugh, to play, to enjoy recreational activities.
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10.
Control over one's Environment.
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(a)
Political. Being able to participate effectively in political choices that govern one’s life; having the right of political participation, protections of free speech and association.
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(b)
Material. Being able to hold property (both land and movable goods), and having property rights on an equal basis with others; having the right to seek employment on an equal basis with others; having the freedom from unwarranted search and seizure. In work, being able to work as a human, exercising practical reason and entering into meaningful relationships of mutual recognition with other workers.
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(a)
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Oosterlaken, I. (2015). Human Capabilities in Design for Values. In: van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P., van de Poel, I. (eds) Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6970-0_7
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