basic human needs

basic human needs

the conception that all human beings share fundamental needs (including health and AUTONOMY) by virtue of their humanity (see L. Doyal and I. Gough, A Theory of Human Need, 1991). The fulfilment of these basic needs is seen as an ‘essential precondition for full participation in social life’. The alternative view is that human needs are relative, a matter of individual or cultural preference. See also JUSTICE, RAWLS, NEEDS, CITIZENSHIP.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000