Book contents
- A Philosophy of Need
- Talking Philosophy
- A Philosophy of Need
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 An Idea We Cannot Do Without: What Difference Will It Make (eg. to Moral, Political and Environmental Philosophy) to Recognize and Put to Use a Substantial Conception of Need?
- 2 Needs and Global Justice
- 3 Need, Humiliation and Independence
- 4 Needs and Ethics in Ancient Philosophy
- 5 Aristotle on Necessities and Needs
- 6 Need, Care and Obligation
- 7 Needs, Facts, Goodness, and Truth
- 8 Fundamental Needs
- 9 Needs, Rights, and Collective Obligations
- 10 Where Does the Moral Force of the Concept of Needs Reside and When?
- 11 Needs and Capabilities
- Index
6 - Need, Care and Obligation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2024
Book contents
- A Philosophy of Need
- Talking Philosophy
- A Philosophy of Need
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 An Idea We Cannot Do Without: What Difference Will It Make (eg. to Moral, Political and Environmental Philosophy) to Recognize and Put to Use a Substantial Conception of Need?
- 2 Needs and Global Justice
- 3 Need, Humiliation and Independence
- 4 Needs and Ethics in Ancient Philosophy
- 5 Aristotle on Necessities and Needs
- 6 Need, Care and Obligation
- 7 Needs, Facts, Goodness, and Truth
- 8 Fundamental Needs
- 9 Needs, Rights, and Collective Obligations
- 10 Where Does the Moral Force of the Concept of Needs Reside and When?
- 11 Needs and Capabilities
- Index
Summary
All humans experience needs.1 At times needs cut deep, inhibiting persons’ abilities to act as agents in the world, to live in distinctly human ways, or to achieve life goals of significance to them. In considering such potentialities, several questions arise: Are any needs morally important, meaning that they operate as morally relevant details of a situation? What is the correct moral stance to take with regard to situations of need? Are moral agents ever required to tend to others’ well-being by meeting their needs? What justification or foundation, if any, can be given for requiring moral agents to respond to others’ needs?2
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- Information
- A Philosophy of Need , pp. 204 - 239Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024