Resumen de The weight of poverty and the role of the subject

Gottfried Schweiger

• This paper examines the role of subjective experiences in social philosophy and discusses it in relation to the critique of poverty. The subjects of poverty �the poor� and their stories can either be viewed as an essential voice in criticizing poverty or they can be viewed as flawed, distorted and misleading in contrast to 'objective' measures. I will discuss two different of theories, the capabilities approach � developed by Amartya Sen �and the recognition approach� mainly associated with Axel Honneth. While Sen is reluctant to give the poor a saying in the evaluation of their condition, Honneth, staying within the trade-tion of Critical Theory, views them as indispensable for social critique. So, both theories also bring forward different ideas how to understand and conceptualize normative theory.