Abstract

When conceptualizing human need and making claims about what it is that human beings need, philosophers have mostly made reference to ends like survival and harm avoidance. The continued existence of a human being is a precondition for living well, as is the avoidance of harm—but neither of these captures the full sense of the word. While human beings need things like very basic nourishment to survive and avoid (serious) harm, they need significantly more than that to actually live well.