 Two central questions pervade the empirical applications. The first concerns the distinction between capabilities and functionings. The latter are easier to observe because individual achievements are more accessible to the statistician than pure potentialities. There is also the normative issue of whether the evaluation of individual situations should be based on capabilities only, viewed as opportunity sets, or should take account of achieved functionings as well. The second central question is the index problem, which has also been raised about Rawls’ theory of primary goods. There are many dimensions of functionings and capabilities and not all of them are equally valuable. The definition of a proper system of weights has appeared problematic in connection to the difficulties of social choice theory.