The aim of this article is to analyze the contribution by Amartya Sen's capability approach to ethical reasoning in public health. Based on critiques by the capability approach towards utilitarianism, the article proposes a concept of health based on four characteristics: a pluralistic notion of good life, expansion of freedom as the ethical foundation for health actions, a concept of person as agent, and recognition of the inner view of health based on positional objectivity. The contribution by the capability approach to ethical reasoning in public health can be summarized in four points: insufficiency of healthcare as a criterion for individual advantage, health equity as a part of social justice, the relevance of individual self-rated health, and the development of capability as an ultimate goal of public policies in public health.
Ethics; Equity in Health; Public Health
