Denis Goulet (27 May 1931 – 26 December 2006) was a human development theorist and a founder of work on ''development ethics'' as an independent field of study. Goulet's definition of

Development Ethics Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

is that it is a field that examines the ethical and value questions related to development theory, planning, and practice. He sought to synthesize insights from philosophy, policy practice, and anthropology to better understand development ethics. Goulet was a professor emeritus in the Department of Economics and Policy Studies at

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. He had also served as a faculty fellow at th
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
and at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He took his undergraduate and master's degrees in Philosophy from St. Paul's College, he took a master's degree in Social Planning from IRFED in Paris; and took his PhD in Political Science from the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

, Brazil.

Influences

Goulet's work drew its major inspiration from the writings and examples of a group French ''religious'' intellectuals including

Charles de Foucauld Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Al ...

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( , ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. Over 2,500 scholarly works have been published about her, including close analyses and readings of her work, since 1995. ...

Louis-Joseph Lebret Louis-Joseph Lebret (1897–1966) was a French Dominican social scientist and philosopher and pioneer of development ethics, who sought to "put the economy at the service of man" and advanced the notion of the "human economy". Life Louis-Joseph L ...

and the “worker priests” of the last century and from the ''hunger and thirst for justice'' of the gospel of Matthew.

Components of Development

Thirlwall Thirlwall is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Anthony Thirlwall (born 1941), Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Kent **Thirlwall's Law, a law of economics *Connop Thirlwall (1797–1875), English clergyman and ...

, notes Goulet's contribution to the broadening of the notion of development to include economic and social objectives and the values that societies strive for. In this context he quotes Goulet's (1971) distinguishing of three basic components or core values of development: # life-sustenance # self-esteem # freedom. This analysis can be viewed as a precursor to the work of

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...

and the

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...

.Goulet, D (1971) The Cruel Choice: A New Concept on the Theory of Development

Key works

Goulet, D. (1971) The Cruel Choice: A New Concept in the Theory of Development, New York, Athenaeum Goulet, D (2006) Development Ethics at Work Explorations - 1960-2002, (Electronic) 978-0-203-08664-3 Routledge, UK

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20120326195729/http://www.centrolindavista.org.mx/archivos_index/goulet/gouletcv.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Goulet, Denis Development specialists 1931 births 2006 deaths