Do any needs make claims on others? If so, which needs and whose needs can defensibly do this? What are the grounds for our responsibilities to meet others’ needs, when we have such responsibilities? The contributors to this volume consider these questions as they evaluate the moral force of needs. They approach questions of obligation through Aristotelian, rights-based, egalitarian, liberal, and libertarian perspectives. Much contemporary discourse about moral and political matters employs the language of needs; Necessary Goods is an important book for philosophers and political philosophers tackling the ever-present problem of our responsibilities towards others.
