Abstract
This chapter introduces energy needs and decent lifestyle and their social and cultural preconceptions. It acknowledges, on one hand, that there are “biologic needs” related to every human existence and, on the other hand, that these are radically relative, historically and culturally. Therefore, it seems misguided to try to define “needs” as a particular set of objective conditions, which means neutrally and validly for others. A consequence of this observed relativity is the impossibility of defining as frivolous certain choices that a person or collective might make for themselves and consider an absolute necessity. The logic of “need” is never far from the logic of desire and wishes, and resists external constraints, even if they are collectively imposed and accepted, as illustrated by infringements of traffic codes. What makes the difference between survival defined as satisfying physiological necessities versus a life that is human and respects the environment and available resources may be the possibility of choosing for oneself diminished “needs” that are assumed as meaningful and not only as constraining. The autonomy principle defines the difference between physical survival and austere life.
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