Abstract

The broad question of distributive justice, in my view, is "given the total social wealth, what is the most just way to distribute it?" As a partial answer to this question, I claim that one thing a society must do, in order to be just, is enable its members to satisfy their basic needs. A need for x, I claim, is a basic need if it is a fact that everyone needs x, over the course of a lifetime, in order to have free rational autonomy. ;I then examine some things that might be thought of as basic needs, in light of what we have learned from people who use alternative performance modes to satisfy their needs. For example, I propose that rather than having a basic need to walk, we have a basic need to mobilize---to get around---which can be accomplished by walking or by using a wheel chair. Using this approach, I claim that our basic needs include the need for adequate nutrition, the need to mobilize, the need to access information in and about our natural and social environments, the need to communicate, and so on. ;I also offer, in Chapter Five, an example of what a society might look like if it had as one of its major goals enabling its members to satisfy their basic needs