...defined in relative terms in developed economies, a view held by Adam Smith (1776): 'By necessaries I understand not only the commodities which are indispensably...people, even of the lowest order, to be without.' The crucial point is that absolute values depend on relative positions (see Sen, 1992). An increase...

...vitamins' (Braybrooke, 1987: 91). Built upon the animal needs there are the cultural ones: 'By necessaries I understand, not only the commodities which are indispensably...creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without' (Smith, 1961 [1776]: II, 399). It is never easy to know precisely what is a physical need (for nutrition),...

...Third | World. But poverty too is contextual. In Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith focused not 'only on the commodities which are indispensably necessary...creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without'.33 That is, social perceptions of poverty are important. So Amartya Sen thinks of poverty...

...play a crucial role in achieving the capability of 'appearing in public without shame'. By necessaries I understand, not only the commodities which are indispensably...order, to be without. A linen shirt, for example, strictly speaking, is not a necessary of life. The Greeks and Romans lived, 1 suppose, very comfortably,...

...poor' to reproduce themselves and their families, he introduces the concept of 'necessary goods', or the commodities which are indispensably necessary...creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without . . . Custom . . . has rendered leather shoes a necessary of life in England. The poorest person of...

...Smith, who proposed that man, as a social animal, defined his "necessaries" by that of his neighbor; "whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent...creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without."2' He continued, "when we say that a man is worth f1fty or a hundred pounds a-year ... we...