"The number of people who live in poverty has always far exceeded the number who do not. The normative question of how governments ought to treat the poor goes to the heart of the idea of justice and thus it is an essential element of political theory. Yet, there has been no formal study of the treatment of poverty in Western political thought." "Poverty, Justice, and.Western Political Thought demonstrates that historical analysis and reconstruction ofthe treatment of poverty is critical because we are part of a historical community. Rather than being artifacts of scholarship, philosophical debates. and ideas that are hundreds and thousands of years old continue to be relevant today because they are part of the foundation for society's beliefs about who the poor are, why they are poor, and what responsibility, if any, society hasto them." "This book will benefit political theorists and philosophers interested in the history of political thought, poverty, or distributive justice, as well as nontheorists. Sharon K. Vaughan is assistant professor of political science at Morehouse College."--BOOK JACKET.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-207) and index.