What Do 'Humans' Need? Sufficiency and Pluralism

Area of Science:

• Moral Philosophy
• Political Theory
• Ethics

Background:

• Sufficientarianism faces a core problem of arbitrariness in defining a specific sufficiency threshold.
• Existing attempts to establish universal goods for a threshold have proven inadequate, often being too low or failing to account for individuals with significant cognitive disabilities.
• Some sufficientarian approaches have incorporated subjective life evaluations, but these also face challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the problem of arbitrariness in sufficientarianism by proposing an individualized threshold concept.
• To explore the concept of 'tolerability' as an individualized justice threshold.
• To respond to traditional objections against individualistic justice approaches, such as 'expensive' tastes and adaptive preferences.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis and argumentation.
• Building upon existing sufficientarian theories that incorporate subjective evaluations.
• Addressing counterarguments related to individualistic justice theories.

Main Results:

• Proposes 'tolerability' as a viable individualized threshold for sufficientarian justice.
• Offers potential solutions to challenges posed by 'expensive' tastes and adaptive preferences within an individualistic framework.
• Connects the philosophical concept of tolerability to practical policymaking considerations.

Conclusions:

• An individualized 'tolerability' threshold offers a promising solution to the problem of arbitrariness in sufficientarianism.
• This approach can accommodate diverse individual circumstances, including cognitive disabilities and subjective evaluations.
• The concept of tolerability has relevant implications for designing more equitable and responsive social policies.