Development as the art of the study of the ends

The role of aspirations, expectations and desires

Abstract

This work aims to correct the mainstream approach of thinking development —especially from economics— as a science that determines the most adequate means to satisfy (basic) needs, assuming that the ends and preferences are given (they are “data”), and the means are scarce. The role that people’s aspirations and expectations play in establishing their life project (their ends) is emphasized. Given their dynamic character —both endogenous and exogenous—and the uncertainty about the future, all these factors can lead to a “poverty trap” in which the poor fail to really strive for their full integral human flourishing and downplay these two factors, in order not to fall into frustration.