Equality:liberal approach

Political science PROJECT

SUBMITTED TO
RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL
UNIVERSITY OF LAW
PATIALA, PUNJAB

FOR THE SECOND SEMESTER OF

B.A. LLB. (HONS.)
SUBMITTED TO. SUBMITTED BY
Saurav samrah Abhijeet singh nafri
Roll No.: 18026

2019

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I  would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teachers Saurav samrah and
Shweta dhaliwal as well as the entire Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law faculty
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the drama ‘equality:
liberal approach’, which also helped me in doing a lot of research and I came to know
about so many new things, I am really thankful to them.
Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in
finalizing this project within the limited time frame. I would also take this opportunity to
thank the RGNUL library staff, who helped me to delimit my resources of research.

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 Table of content

1. What is liberty…………………………………………………...4
2. What is equality………………………………………………….6
3. Relation between equality and liberty…………………………...7
4. J.s. mills concept of liberty……………………………………....9
5. John locke concept of liberty and equality………………………11

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what is liberty?

Liberty Is the freedom to live your life whichever the way u want and what u want to do
u do without any interference of anyone or any authority.

Types of liberty –

1. Political liberty
2. Personal liberty
3. Natural liberty
4. Civil liberty
5. Economic liberty
6. National liberty1

Natural liberty - Natural freedom means the lack of all the limitations of freedom without
the restriction and to do whatever they want. Only a lion can do whatever he wants in the
jungle, so a man must have immense freedom to do whatever he wants in society.

Personal liberty - Everyone has the right not to allow any other person to interfere in the
affairs of his personal life. Everyone should have the freedom to dress, eat, live, get
married, educate their children, and so on. The state must not interfere in the personal
affairs of the individual. This freedom is essential for the free development of human
society.

Political liberty - we have the concept of political freedom, which means the freedom of
citizens to participate in political life and affairs of state. With political freedom, Laski
means the freedom of the individual to participate in the affairs of the state. Political
freedom includes minimum rights. These rights are: the right to vote; the right to contest
the elections; the right to occupy a public office; the right to express political opinions
and criticize the government; and the right to petition etc.

1
Pooja. Ahluwalia. (11sep.,2011). Types of liberty. Retrieved from
http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/top-six-kinds-on-liberty-explained/282

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Civil liberty - Civil liberty indicates the absence of such restrictions that are neither
reasonable nor legitimate. It refers to the freedom enjoyed by man in society. Prevail in
the state Denotes the enjoyment of our rights within the limits of the law. The protection
of civil liberty is guaranteed by law. The protection of civil liberty is guaranteed by the
laws of the State.

Economic liberty - liberty to own one’s daily bread witout any interference of anyone.

National liberty - National freedom exists where the nation or community is independent
and sovereign. In reality, national freedom is another name for national sovereignty.
Every state or nation wants to remain free. And without independence, the progress of the
nation or state is not possible.2

What is equality?
2
Pooja. Ahluwalia. (11sep.,2011). Types of liberty. Retrieved from
http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/top-six-kinds-on-liberty-explained/282

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Equality is equal status of all sex, race, religion, culture etc. giving equal respect to
everyone without discrimination. It means putting in place measures to help people
achieve similar results. For a blind person, this could involve using screen readers on
your computer and removing obstacles in your building. For a member of a minority, this
may involve having affirmative messages in your youth space so that young people know
that diversity and difference are appreciated. Messages can be communicated in different
ways, such as having an open and welcoming staff, posting posters and relevant
information, celebrating special days like "Traveler" and "LGBT Pride" or special weeks
like Diwali, Eid, etc. Exclusion is usually an involuntary result.
Equality of achievement can be achieved by ensuring that all are supported to access
resources and decision making, to be recognized, valued and respected. When support is
not in place, it usually results in exclusion even if it is not intentional, because people
who are marginalized do not feel or know that they can attend a group, even if the
mission statement indicates that it is open to all. By following the checklists in Access
All Areas, you will discover a range of supports that can be put in place to offer a service
based on the principle of equality of results.

Types of equality –

1. Civil equality
2. Social equality
3. Political equality
4. Economic equality
5. Equality of opportunity

Relationship between liberty and equality

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Equality is a multidimensional concept. Various opinions are expressed to situate the
exact relationship between these two concepts. Writers like De Tocqueville and Lord
Acton are of the opinion that freedom and equality are opposed because they are
antagonists. The desire to have equality removes the possibility of having full freedom.
Achieving equality requires positive action by the state. Equality needs a "positive state"
and the freedom of a "negative state". The theory of elitist democracy is in contrast with
the principle of equality. But on the other hand, authors like Maitland, Rousseau, Barker,
Laski, etc. I believe they are complementary. Freedom and equality have a common
purpose, the promotion of the value of personality and the free development of its
capabilities. R. H. Tawney rightly notes that "a great measure of equality, previously
unfavorable to freedom, is essential for her". None of these can be appreciated in
isolation.

L. T. Hobhouse felt that freedom without equality is a resonant phrase with sordid results.
Freedom lies in equality. A freedom without equality degenerates into a license and
equality without freedom becomes homogeneous.

Freedom is superior to equality because equality is free. For Professor Barker "Equality
in all its forms must always be subject to and essential to the free development of skills,
but if it is pressed for the length of uniformity, if we try to standardize to hinder the free
development of abilities, the subject he becomes the master and the world turns upside
down. "

The development of a rich variety of personalities requires great freedom and prohibits
any attempt to impose an unequal level of social and economic equality. Freedom unites
men but equality is critical of the social hierarchy and contributes to the stability of the
community. Therefore, freedom would be empty without a measure of equality and
equality would be meaningless without freedom. In this era of democracy in which the
vote is a powerful weapon in the hands of the electorate, economic equality is the most
essential condition, since the economically powerful person will use his economic

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resources to obtain political power. Political equality will be a mockery in the absence of
economic equality. All the democratic constitutions of the world have incorporated
freedom and equality in their constitutions because both have a common goal: to develop
human personality and make life worth living. Therefore, it is stated that freedom without
equality is restricted and that equality without freedom is monotonous. Both are the
essential conditions of human existence.3

John Stuart mill concept of liberty

3
Rohini das. (8 oct, 2016). Relationship between liberty and equality. Retrieved from
http://www.preservearticles.com/notes/notes-on-the-relationship-between-equality-and-liberty/4384

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On Liberty is one of Mill's most famous works and remains the most read today. In this
book, Mill presents her concept of individual freedom in the context of her ideas about
history and the state. Freedom depends on the idea that society progresses from lower to
higher levels and that this progress leads to the emergence of a system of representative
democracy. It is in the context of this form of government that Mill provides for the
growth and development of freedom.

He defines civil liberty as the limit imposed on the power of society over every
individual. Mill undertakes a historical examination of the concept of freedom, starting
with ancient Greece and Rome and heading to England. In the past, freedom meant
primarily protection against tyranny. Over time, the sense of freedom has changed with
the role of leaders, seen as servants of the people rather than masters. This development
has created a new problem: the tyranny of the majority, in which a democratic majority
imposes its will on the minority. This state of affairs can exert a tyrannical power even
outside the political sphere, when forces such as public opinion stifle individuality and
rebellion. Here, society itself becomes the tyrant who tries to inflict his will and his
values on others. Later, Mill observes that freedom can be divided into three types, each
of which must be recognized and respected by every free society. First, there is freedom
of thought and opinion. The second type is the freedom of tastes and interests, or the
freedom to plan our lives. Third, there is the freedom to join other like-minded people for
a common purpose that does not harm anyone. Each of these freedoms denies society's
propensity to enforce the rules.

whether one or more persons should be able to curtail another person’s freedom to
express a divergent point of view. Mill argues that any such activity is illegitimate, no
matter how beyond the pale that individual’s viewpoint may be. We must not silence any
opinion, because such censorship is simply morally wrong. Mill points out that a

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viewpoint’s popularity does not necessarily make it correct—this fact is why we must
allow freedom of opinion. Dissent is vital because it helps to preserve truth, since truth
can easily become hidden in sources of prejudice and dead dogma. Mill defines dissent as
the freedom of the individual to hold and articulate unpopular views.4

john locke concept of equality and liberty

4
On liberty retrieved from https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/mill/section3/

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Political philosopher and social psychologist, John Locke was an outspoken supporter of
equal rights within a governed society. He espoused the natural rights of man, namely the
right to life, liberty and property, and he articulated that every government’s purpose is to
secure these rights for its nationals.

his idea of natural equality goes to the state in which men abandon the "state of nature"
and enter society. Thus, once a government is established, the role of equality can be
analyzed from a social perspective, when the idea of religious tolerance comes into play.

Before there is a government and a nation, man lives in a state of nature in which he is
guided by the laws of nature as God intended. Locke begins his second treaty of
government that establishes the truths of nature mainly in the fact that God is the creator
and does not grant superiority to any individual in modern society, as has often been
discussed in the past. Locke states: "In the races of humanity and in the families of the
world, there remains one on top of the other, the slightest affirmation of being the oldest
house" .

Here discards the notion of real or noble superiority that reigned in his time and, above
all, established the general equality of all. Therefore, the importance of equality derives
from its existence in the state of nature. The basis of the social contract is mutual consent
and man, coming from a state of "perfect freedom" (Locke, Treaty, 8) and equality,
would not want to settle for less when he abandons the state of nature.

It should also be noted that Locke's interpretation of freedom and freedom is directly
associated with equality. In his discussion of slavery, Locke describes freedom as "not
subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, and arbitrary will of another man" (Locke,
Treatise, 17). This describes an equitable distribution of power.

Freedom is described as follows: "My will in everything, where rule does not prescribe"
(Locke, Treatise, 17). Freedom and liberty exist only in a state in which they are

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uniformly applied, or exist for a tyrant in a state of war. Above all, when entering society,
individuals are forced to alienate a minimum of freedom and freedom, but full equality
can (theoretically) never be compromised.5

Bibliography
Books referred

5
(December 01,2009). John locke on equality. Retrieved from
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/75/john-locke-on-equality-toleration-and-the-atheist-exception

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 1. Principles of modern Political science by j.c Johari
2. Introduction to political science by o.p. gauba

Other sources

1. http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/top-six-kinds-on-liberty-explained/282
2. https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/mill/section3/
3. http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/75/john-locke-on-equality-toleration-and-the-
atheist-exception
4. http://www.preservearticles.com/notes/notes-on-the-relationship-between-equality-
and-liberty/4384
5. http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/top-six-kinds-on-liberty-explained/282

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