ABSTRACT
The ten central capabilities formulated in Martha Nussbaum’s unique approach offer us a way of seeing whether a person is living a flourishing and meaningful life and what a person is actually able to be and to do in life to realize his/her potential as a human being. The underlying idea behind these ten capabilities is Nussbaum’s conviction of what a human being is and what kind of life is worthy of human dignity. In effect, the central capabilities may be used to determine whether the life aspects lived by a woman indicate that she is a human being and is living a life worthy of human dignity. In this paper, the national data on violence against women in Indonesia (Catahu Komnas Perempuan 2014, 2015, and 2016) were analyzed using the lenses of the central capabilities to know whether the lives of Indonesian women are worthy of human dignity and whether their life is a human life at all. Finally, a discussion on methodological obstacles to translating abstract philosophical ideas into down-to-earth practical applications is presented.
