Congruency of Liberty and Equality: A conceptual study

  • Unique Paper ID: 150283
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 4
  • PageNo: 1-3
  • Abstract:
  • Equality and Liberty are considered to be two faces of the same coin. Liberty is not possible if there is no equality in the society. Where there is no equal protection of law, the liberty of one person invariably means, bondage of the other person. Therefore understanding the correlation between, these two important concept is essential. This paper attempts to understand the different facets of Liberty and equality and their inter-relationship. Defining liberty in precise words or sentences is difficult, because, the meaning of liberty differs from person to person. For an industrialist, liberty means freedom to establish any type of industry as he wishes and allowing him or her to earn as much profit as possible, but for workers, liberty means freedom from being exploited in the factory. The etymology of liberty clarifies this dichotomy. The term liberty is derived from a Latin word ‘Liber’, which means ‘freedom’. Therefore in congruency, liberty means absence of all restraints and freedom to do anything as per their discretion. But on the other hand, it is not possible to have such absolute liberty in a society, because, man being a social animal, he must observe certain set of rules and regulations, without which, it would lead to survival of the fittest concept. Hence it is said, social life means regulated life. Similar way, equality means, that all men are equal and hence, they deserve identity of treatment. The advocates of such type of absolute equality assert that all men are born equal and nature has willed them to remain so. It is an essential equal right of man. This appears to be a paper tiger as we witness non-egalitarian society in reality. Therefore as pointed out by Prof. Sartorii “Liberty and Equality has so many facets and so many implications that after we have studied it from all angles, we are left with a feeling of not having really mastered it”. Hence an attempt has been made in this paper to have conceptual clarity on liberty and equality.

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  • ISSN: 2349-6002
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 4
  • PageNo: 1-3

Congruency of Liberty and Equality: A conceptual study

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