We saw in Chapter 1 that happiness is often identified with the satisfaction of needs, wants, or desires. In this chapter, we will explore the nature of needs and how needs differ from wants. I will not try to distinguish between wants and desires but will use the terms synonymously. Other related terms – impulse and instinct — will arise, and we will see how they fit into the web of needs and wants.

Needs, wants, desires, impulses, and instincts may all be thought of as expressions — verbal or bodily — of subjective longing. It is customary, however, to label some biological needs (and some instincts, if they are recognized at all) as objective because they appear in all human beings and survival depends on their satisfaction. It is reasonable to call the need for food, shelter, and protection from harm objective, but this label neglects the personal intensity of my hunger, cold, and fear. It may also cause us to draw an arbitrary line between needs that should receive public attention and those that can be left as mere wants to be satisfied in the private realm or not at all.

Needs are considered more fundamental than wants. We can at least imagine living a reasonably happy life in which our wants are few, our desires confined to pleasures of the mind, and our cravings rationally repressed. We cannot, however, imagine living a happy life if certain of our needs are not met.