 The basic needs approach is one of many possible accounts that appeal to sufficientarian distributive criteria. For the basic needs approach, the distribuendum is welfare and the distributive criterion requires that welfare is sufficient to meet basic needs. One could argue for an alternative version of a sufficiency-based distributive criterion, for example, by claiming that fairness requires greater levels of welfare than that which is sufficient to meet basic needs. Alternatively, one could argue for a different distribuendum, for example, by claiming that the social surplus, or embodied labour, or some other good must pass a certain threshold in order for the transaction to be fair. However, while these alternatives are conceptually possible, the basic needs approach remains the only widely defended sufficiency based account.