Chapter Info (Click Here)
Book No. – 002 (Political Science)
Book Name – Political Theory (Rajeev Bhargava)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. INTRODUCTION
2. EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT
2.1. Aristotle
2.2. Hobbes
2.3. Rousseau on Inequality.
2.4. Marx
2.5. Tocqueville
3. WHY EQUALIZE?
4. EQUALITY OF WHAT?
4.1. Equality of Welfare
4.2. Equality of Resources
4.3. Equality of Capabilities
4.4. Complex Equality.
5. IN CONCLUSION: THE POLITICS OF EQUALITY
Note: The first chapter of every book is free.
Access this chapter with any subscription below:
- Half Yearly Plan (All Subject)
- Annual Plan (All Subject)
- Political Science (Single Subject)
- CUET PG + Political Science
LANGUAGE
Equality
Chapter – 4
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
- Human beings are unequal in many respects, such as race, religion, sex, physical, genetic, and mental attributes, as well as dispositions and abilities.
- The range of inequalities and disparities in humanity is wide and is an empirical fact.
- Despite these differences, humans believe in equality and the equal worth of individuals, especially in social, economic, and political contexts.
- The concept of equality is invoked when individuals seek to be counted as equals, treated as equals, and entitled to social goods.
- The idea of being treated as an equal is not about anatomical similarities, but more fundamental shared human experiences and qualities.
- Humanity shares common capacities, such as the ability to feel pain, suffer, experience affection, and bear moral consequences, which have moral significance.
- According to Bernard Williams (1962), these are moral capacities that are universal to all humans.
- Another important characteristic is the desire for self-respect, which enables individuals to pursue their goals independently without being instruments of others’ will.
- There is a core of commonality in human experience that supports egalitarian beliefs and makes struggles against unequal relationships and social order worthwhile.
- Equality, along with other political values such as justice and liberty, offers a moral framework for making political judgments and for explaining, prescribing, or criticizing political actions.
- The concept of equality is central to normative political theory.
- In a general sense, equality refers to a relationship between two or more persons or groups regarding some aspect of their lives.
- The idea of equality is complex, and it is not always easy to define the relationship between individuals or groups or determine the goals of that relationship.
- There is no single way to define equality, as different conceptions of equality depend on how the building blocks(relationships, persons, relevant attributes) are understood and valued.
- The relationship between persons and the aspects of their lives that are emphasized can vary, leading to multiple conceptions of equality.
EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT
- The history of political philosophy is filled with references to the ideal of equality, from ancient Greece to the 20th century, notable for its many egalitarian experiments.
- The idea of equality has evoked strong human passions and has undergone significant transformations across centuries, shaping and being shaped by the political battles fought by millions of people.
- These battles were often fought against autocrats, unjust social conditions, and undemocratic regimes or policies.
- Tracing the history of an idea is difficult, as it involves the interpretive exercise of understanding past contributions.
- One issue in interpretation is whether we can use contemporary lenses to judge the works of past authors, with some claiming this is possible and others suggesting that interpretation should be contextual rather than textual.
- There is a pluralist approach to this debate, with many scholars accepting the validity of both perspectives.
- Another issue is whether the recovery of an idea will result in a progressive revelation of contemporary ideals or an account of degeneration leading to dangerous contemporary trends.
- The project of recovering an idea is therefore filled with either hope or despair.
- Most efforts to recover the history of normative concepts in political theory aim at a progressive revival, noting how ideas grow and evolve over time.
- These recoveries are enriched by drawing on the connections between ideas such as liberty, justice, rights, popular sovereignty, and democracy, which help shape the concept of equality.
- The idea of equality is intertwined with these parallel concepts and cannot be fully understood in isolation.
- The book will selectively focus on thinkers like Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, and Tocqueville, who played decisive roles in shaping the idea of equality.
- Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America, wrote that the spread of equality in history is inevitable and irresistible.
- Tocqueville claims that the progress of equality is universal and permanent, and that the ideal is beyond human control, with every individual contributing to its progress.
- He asks how something that is now universal and permanent began its journey.