Human Needs and the Market

This book defends the concept of "need" against liberal criticisms and argues that there are universal, objective fundamental human needs, that they can be identified empirically and that facts about needs have moral and practical implications for action to satisfy them. They have epistemological, moral and empirical advantages over the competing concepts of felt needs, wants and preferences. Concious planning to meet needs is advocated since allocation of resources is allocated through market mechanisms fails to meet both ... Read More

This book defends the concept of "need" against liberal criticisms and argues that there are universal, objective fundamental human needs, that they can be identified empirically and that facts about needs have moral and practical implications for action to satisfy them. They have epistemological, moral and empirical advantages over the competing concepts of felt needs, wants and preferences. Concious planning to meet needs is advocated since allocation of resources is allocated through market mechanisms fails to meet both needs and wants. Survival and both physical and mental health are identified as fundamental human needs. It is shown that objective empirical indicators of actual needs in given social contexts can be developed and their use can demonstrate where needs are unmet and point to practical recommendations for policies and action to improve the satisfaction of need. It is claimed that significant improvements in meeting needs can only come about in a radically transformed social order. Read Less