The coherence of the concept of social progress depends upon the belief that some modes of social organization are better suited to satisfying human need than others. In light of national differences between welfare provision and differing levels of benefits within nations, some criterion is required to distinguish good and bad welfare systems, to enable one to be defended and the other to be reformed. Conflicting evidence suggests that subjective feeling is not a reliable determination of human need, but the intelligibility of this fact seems to depend on the belief that there is something objective and universal about human need: “objective” in that its theoretical and empirical specification is independent of individual preference, and “universal” in that its conception of serious harm is the same for everyone. This chapter identified these non preferential features of human need and outlines some of the moral consequences that follow from such an identification.
