What Remains When Everything Changes? Human Needs and the Long-Term Relevance of Jean-Pol Martin's New Human Rights

How can human needs provide orientation amid rapid technological and societal transformation? Starting from an intellectual impulse by Andreas Broszio, this conceptual essay examines the long-term relevance of Jean-Pol Martin’s New Human Rights (Neue Menschenrechte, NMR). The article distinguishes three levels: relatively enduring human needs, the ethical justification of their protection, and historically variable institutions and practices through which they are fulfilled. It considers six interconnected domains: thinking, health, security, social inclusion, self-realisation and participation, and meaning. Its distinctive contribution is to explain how continuity of anthropological orientation can coexist with institutional revision and learning. Particular attention is given to the normative bridge between identifying needs and justifying rights. Illustrative applications address education, public administration and human-AI cooperation. Within Martin’s NMR corpus, the essay develops the temporal dimension of the framework: why its orientation can remain relevant while concrete solutions require ongoing reassessment. It also documents Broszio’s contribution to collective theoretical development. This is a conceptual essay, not an empirical validation of the universality or completeness of the six-domain model. Prepared by Jean-Pol Martin in collaboration with ChatGPT.