Two anthropological contributions to the question of poverty and wealth at Leonardo Polo

Abstract

This paper contains two anthropological contributions prepared by Leonardo Polo (1926-2013) in writings aimed at illuminating human, social, economic and business action, in particular his paper “Rich and poor. Equality and inequality”. There we see an important critique of the anthropological vision behind the conception of homo oeconomicus with which the birth and development of economics as a science was supported and characterized by the ontological poverty of a being that is a full maximizer of resources. This, homo oeconomicus, is a notion that from different disciplines is being repeatedly criticized, by the limitation of this model in understanding human action (e.g., because it leaves out the emotional factor, reduces the action at utility, nullifies solidarity behavior, etc.), which are insufficient without a radical anthropological framework.