Global Poverty, Human Rights and Development

How well does political philosophy deal with the big issues? Is our contemporary approach able to withstand Marx' challenge1, "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it"? This thesis attempts to answer these questions by examining philosophical responses to one of the biggest problems facing the world today, that of global poverty. This blight on society has been widely recognised, for longer than many similar problems such as climate change and the threat of global pandemics. Consequently there exists a substantial body of philosophical work to consider. The focus is threefold: to evaluate how political philosophy has responded to global poverty, to identify opportunities for further progress, and to suggest how the role of political philosophers in general might evolve in the light of recent developments. This investigation concentrates on the two major approaches of recent years aimed at, amongst other objectives, reducing global poverty - the Human Rights Approach and the Human Development Approach.