Applying this analysis to human needs raises three related questions. It seems indisputable that human beings objectively and universally need air, water, food, and shelter, whatever cultural wants, desires, or preferences they happen to have. This account links needs to human nature and naturalistic ethics.
Needs are also the basis for an influential explication of distributive justice.
See also Ethical naturalism . The Oxford Companion to Philosophy 2. The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology 4. All rights reserved.