Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice: A Jurisprudence of Generosity?

Abstract

This review of Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice invites a reading Sen’s work alongside the writings of Patricia Williams and Karin van Marle on a ‘jurisprudence of generosity’. It is argued the notions of refusal and openness that underpin a ‘jurisprudence of generosity’ can be used to deepen our understanding of Sen’s work as a struggle against the intellectual and epistemological reductionism of traditional jurisprudence.