A theory of the good for a conception of sustainability

Sustainability is widely seen as a strategy to safeguard the possibility of good life for present as well as for future generations. Conceptions of sustainability relate, therefore, to an account of justice that designates what every human being’s due is. It is on these assumptions upon which one may identify, following Andrew Dobson, the principal question of sustainability as ‘What is to be sustained?’. Utility, welfare, ecological services or, newly, capabilities are considered as goods we ought to sustain for future generations. However, the debate about what to sustain lacks an analysis of the underlying evaluative assumptions. Therefore, I propose to develop a theory of the good, which allows identifying intrinsic and instrumental sustainable goods. This mustn’t be a general theory of the good, but rather it has to fit the idea of sustainability. Accordingly, in my paper I first discuss and evolve criteria for a theory of the good for a conception of sustainability. Examining and refining the so-called capability approach I then outline such a theory.