Hi,

I also want to talk about poverty for those of you who are interested and might take a look at the paper that Gizem and I have been working on. The big issue is how exactly do we define poverty and why do we define it that way. Aristotle suggested that the major human activity for individuals is to move towards a flourishing of human functioning. This means exactly what it says, that humans should be able to function in the best manner possible - in terms of their relationships with others, their thinking about the world around them, their ability to negotiate the world around them. So there is no one thing that we are working towards, no great knowledge, no specific ability, but the way in which you live your life, and how you feel in living your life. What is poverty, or what we want to look at as poverty is the capability to achieve this type of functioning.

This is where the issue of freedom comes in. To what degree is poverty the deprivation of material possessions and to what degree is it the deprivation of freedom, including the deprivation of a long life and good nutrition?