Sustainability economics, ontology and the capability approach

The relationship between sustainability economics and the capability approach has recently been explored. Here I shall discuss this relationship, and argue that a study of the ontology underlying the capability approach can help us to see more clearly the interconnections between sustainability economics and the capability approach. In particular, the interpretations of the capability approach as an ontological exercise, which have recently emerged in the literature, enable us to have a better understanding of the essential categories used in the capability approach, and to establish a clearer connection between the capability approach and sustainability economics. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.