Apontamentos sobre as bases empíricas do desenvolvimento

This paper seeks to understand the empirical basis on which the theories of growth and socioeconomic development are based. The starting point is the assumption that the contemporary concept of development, in the context of the social sciences (especially of the applied ones), has roots that fed on at least three major sources: the philosophical contributions of ancient Greece, the prevailing political practices in the Republic and the Roman Empire, and finally, the influences exerted by the Church on the production mode prevailing in medieval society. So the purpose of this article is to briefly discuss a number of aspects considered to be significant that, inherited from each of these different historical contexts, contributed to the establishment of the concept of development currently in effect. The article is based on readings notes and perceptions arising from such readings in order to recover a remote past that, in general, influenced the recent history of mankind and, especially, economic theories that inform the design of development dominant today.