Why Daniels Needs the Capabilities Approach

Building on Rawls’ Theory of Justice, Norman Daniels has set the stage for a comprehensive theory of health justice, emphasizing the importance of securing normal functioning. However, the present contribution claims that Daniels’ account faces at least two crucial challenges – the normality and the specialness problem – to which the capabilities approach, originally developed by Amartya Sen provides plausible answers. The article argues that by incorporating some elements from the capabilities approach, we can bolster Daniels’ view and move forward towards a broad consensus on a functioning-based framework of health justice.