A Conceptual Schema of the Ontology of Human Will and Poverty
A Conceptual Schema of the Ontology of Human Will and Poverty

Summary/Abstract: Poverty as a concept aligns well with a continuous lack of human basic existential needs. This lack or need makes poverty usually associated with economic considerations. Understanding poverty holistically is also premised on the lack of human capacity development such as abilities and capabilities, intelligence quotient, accessing opportunities, growth and all round physical advancement. What is clearly prevalent in the determination of poverty is a “lack of basic needs” which can be material or immaterial. In this paper, we attempted to show the nexus between human will and poverty from an ontological and conceptual approach. Our theoretical framework was to delineate the human will into two aspects: individual and collective. Employing the critical and analytical method of investigation, we set out to interrogate the nature of the human will, equality and equity and the role individual and collective will plays in the entrenchment and elimination of global poverty. One of the major findings of the paper is that, capitalism, socialism and communism all arising from the human will, as an ideological imprint, bifurcate humanity and creates a scenario where life becomes the survival of the fittest. Hence, the human will is a serious subject matter with varied implications for poverty.

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