Philosophy Tea - Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen - Development and Freedom

Amartya Sen (born 1933) is a respected economist and philosopher from India with a broad perspective on development, inequality, freedom, democracy and social progress. In his widely read Development as Freedom (1999) he connects to the pioneering economic thinkers such as Adam Smith to argue for the enhancement of socially responsible freedom as the basis for economic development. One of his earlier works demonstrated that famines rarely happen in democracies, thus pointing to the importance of political institutions for economic development that benefits society as a whole. Similarly he demonstrated the impact of gender inequality by calculating the number of 'missing women' in the use of India's demographic statistics.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and the Skytte Prize in Political Science in 2017.This autumn Professor Peter Wallensteen and Lecturer Daniel Ogden will continue their popular Philosophy Tea talks. Each Philosophy Tea is a discussion about a particular philosopher or practitioner in the field of peace and justice and lasts for an hour. The discussion can span the whole career of the philosopher or focus on a particularly significant work. The final twenty minutes is reserved for an open discussion with the audience. The events are run in English.

This episode of the Philosophy Tea, focusing on Amartya Sen, was recorded and edited at Reginateatern, which also served as the host venue for the event on 9 October 2018.

Producer: Paul Kessel

The Philosophy Tea talks were held regularly at the Regina Theatre in Uppsala from 2014 to 2021. During these well attended events – where tea, scones and jam were served – Professor Peter Wallensteen and Guest Lecturer Daniel Ogden, both of Uppsala University, discussed thinkers who have contributed to our understanding of peace and justice. In all, 40 sessions were held, of which 31 are recorded. The session were also supported by Uppsala University as part of its outreach activities.