Vital Minimum

This unique look at the development of the idea of “need” in the context of modern French history is a wonderful blend of history and many other disciplines. In tracing the idea of what is the minimum requirement for people, Dana Simmons delves into the very French approach of combining scientific measurement, new ideas on social equality, and philosophical debate to examine how the French attempted to develop measurements and definitions of “need” versus “want”. Tracing a fluid arc through “Natural Law” to socialist political theory in post WWII France this study elaborates on issues of physical, social and political need. This study engages the reader in the lively and passionate debate that raged in France from 1789 until today on the nature of inequality. This book gives the reader both a wonderful look into the distinct French view (which remains) as well illustrating that the current political debate on inequality has long and complicated origins. The modern age, Simmons argues at the end, “…require that we reconcile our material and social existence.” This book does a marvelous job of laying out the thought process for achieving that goal from the ideas of modern France.