ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the developments in Amartya Sen’s thought on rational choice presented in his essay, ‘Goals, Commitment, and Identity’ and on which he has expatiated since first making these developments. The realization of self-goal choice means that one’s choices are made exclusively in the pursuit of one’s own goals, whatever those goals might be. The violation of self-welfare goal, by contrast, means that the agent is capable of entertaining different goals, including, but not limited to, the maximization of her own welfare. The violation of self-welfare goal, then, will be understood in what follows to endow a person with a capability – the capability to make commitments. The realization of self-centred welfare implies that a person cannot feel sympathy. The agent is incapable of acting on any goal other than the maximization of her welfare, and so self-welfare goal pertains.
