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Translated into French for the first time by Arnaud Dewalque, Oskar Kraus’s essay on Need (1894) applies Brentano’s descriptive psychology to the economy. The latter is sometimes defined as the system of human needs. But what does the notion of “need” refer to? What is the difference between full-blown needs, mere privations, and biological instincts? And what are the various classes (or types) of needs? Kraus argues—against hedonistic theories—that not all needs are directed toward the acquisition of pleasure or the suppression of pain. He thereby offers a richer descriptive analysis of volitional, or conative, phenomena.