ABSTRACT
Since the origins of economics as a science its definition has always been with reference to the manner of provision for the wants of the members of society. It is the circle of needs which defines concretely the livelihood of the family as of the state which provides for economic analysis its starting point both historically, as regards the development of the theory, and conceptually, as regards the theory itself. Indeed, it is the concept of need which, once subject to analysis, provides a first real insight into the character of economics and into the object of economic science. Yet, the notion of need taken with reference to the historical development of the science differs sharply from the concept of need which provides a fundamental component of the theory of economic life which emerges as the culmination of that historical development. The development of economic theory is no less the development of the concept of need which appears in its definition from the outset. Those wants of society and of its members which appear with the earliest writings in political economy exhibit an inadequacy of conception which requires and, indeed, gives rise to a definite development. It is only out of this development that political economy is able to establish itself as a science.
