Books
The Hope of the Poor
£14.95
Philosophy, Religion & Economic Development
Is economic development the best hope for the world’s poor? A great many individuals, governments and organizations think the obvious answer is ‘Yes’, the only issue being about how development can best be achieved. In recent decades some powerful voices from economics and anthropology have taken issue with this widespread consensus, and this book aims to add a philosophical dimension to the debate. Just who are ‘the poor’, and what should they hope for? Is the best hope of having a worthwhile life any different for the poor than it is for the rich?
Drawing on Aristotle, Bacon, Hume, Reid, Marx and Nietzsche, as well as contemporary authors such as Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and Tim Ingold, Gordon Graham argues in favour of replacing quantitative assessments of wealth and poverty with a qualitative account of the ways in which human lives can be enriched or impoverished. The final chapter explores the connection between economic and political development and religious ways of thinking.
Paperback
230 pp.
£14.95
Is economic development the best hope for the world’s poor? A great many individuals, governments and organizations think the obvious answer is ‘Yes’, the only issue being about how development can best be achieved. In recent decades some powerful voices from economics and anthropology have taken issue with this widespread consensus, and this book aims to add a philosophical dimension to the debate. Just who are ‘the poor’, and what should they hope for? Is the best hope of having a worthwhile life any different for the poor than it is for the rich?
Drawing on Aristotle, Bacon, Hume, Reid, Marx and Nietzsche, as well as contemporary authors such as Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and Tim Ingold, Gordon Graham argues in favour of replacing quantitative assessments of wealth and poverty with a qualitative account of the ways in which human lives can be enriched or impoverished. The final chapter explores the connection between economic and political development and religious ways of thinking.
Professor Sir Angus Deaton, 2015 Nobel Laureate –
“Gordon Graham constructs an entirely convincing argument from philosophical first principles about how we should think about the lives of the poor. It is a tour de force that should be read by both philosophers and economists. Long overdue.”
Professor William Easterly, Professor of Economics, New York University –
“I was thrilled to discover Gordon Graham’s masterwork challenging economic development efforts. He questions why those efforts should see the poor only as problems to be solved, or why anyone should even have to bear the dehumanizing label ‘the poor’. He brings deep insights from religion and philosophy into the search for a more equal world of dignity and agency for all.”