Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have worked to popularize something kind of like that, though your list is more oriented toward material things than theirs is.

Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have worked to popularize something kind of like that, though your list is more oriented toward material things than theirs is. They call it the capabilities approach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_approach Edit: here is Nussbaum's list, pulled from the Wikipedia article: Life Bodily Health Bodily Integrity Senses, Imagination, and Thought Emotions Practical Reason Affiliation [social interaction] Other Species Play Control over one's environment (political and material)