Liberty and Rights
Short Questions
1. What is liberty according to Thomas Hobbes?
Ans: Liberty is the freedom to act without restraint, inspired by fear and necessity.
2. How does John Locke view liberty?
Ans: Liberty is a natural right, enjoyed rationally without affecting equality.
3. What is the core idea of Rousseau’s concept of liberty?
Ans: Liberty involves prioritizing social interests over personal ones, freeing individuals from inequality.
4. What is negative liberty as per Isaiah Berlin?
Ans: Negative liberty is freedom from restraints and state interference.
5. What does positive liberty emphasize?
Ans: Positive liberty focuses on self-mastery and collective well-being through state guidance.
6. What is Swaraj according to Mahatma Gandhi?
Ans: Swaraj means self-rule, combining freedom from British rule and western cultural domination.
7. What are natural rights?
Ans: Universal rights inherent to human nature, like the right to life and liberty.
8. What are moral rights based on?
Ans: They are based on the conscience of the individual and community.
9. What is the significance of Article 21 in the Indian Constitution?
Ans: It ensures no one is deprived of life or liberty except by law.
10. What are human rights?
Ans: Inalienable rights every human has, like the right to life and expression.
Long Questions
1. Explain the difference between negative and positive liberty as per Isaiah Berlin.
Ans: Negative liberty emphasizes freedom from external restraints and state interference, focusing on individual choice. Positive liberty highlights self-mastery and collective well-being, often requiring state intervention to ensure rational freedom and equality.
2. How did Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj contribute to the idea of liberty in India?
Ans: Gandhi’s Swaraj combined self-rule with freedom from British and western cultural dominance. It emphasized self-governance, self-discipline, and humanitarian values, inspiring India’s freedom struggle and social reforms.
3. Discuss John Stuart Mill’s perspective on individual liberty.
Ans: Mill supported individual liberty, opposing unrestrained state control, and believed humans control their body and mind. His ideas in On Liberty stress freedom of thought and action, balanced with societal impact.
4. What role did Mahatma Phule and Dr. Ambedkar play in defining liberty in India?
Ans: Phule and Ambedkar defined liberty as freedom from caste inequality and social constraints. They advocated ending subordination, humiliation, and caste domination, promoting social equality as a core aspect of liberty.
5. How does the Indian Constitution balance positive and negative liberty?
Ans: The Constitution balances negative liberty through Article 19, ensuring freedoms like speech and movement, and positive liberty via Article 21, limiting liberty only by law to promote dignity and collective welfare.
6. What are the key features of negative liberty according to Fredrick Hayek and Robert Nozick?
Ans: Hayek viewed negative liberty as economic freedom without state interference, a hurdle-less situation. Nozick emphasized freedom from restrictions without consent, protecting individual liberty from social and economic controls.
7. How does Rousseau’s concept of liberty differ from that of Hobbes and Locke?
Ans: Unlike Hobbes and Locke, who saw liberty as a natural right, Rousseau viewed it collectively, prioritizing social interests. He focused on emancipation from inequality, not just absence of restraint.
8. What is the significance of human rights as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)?
Ans: The UDHR, adopted in 1948, combines natural and civil rights, promoting liberty, equality, and justice. It ensures universal, inalienable rights like life and expression, fostering human dignity globally.
9. How has the Indian judiciary expanded the meaning of liberty through key cases?
Ans: Cases like Francis Coralie Mullin (1981) defined liberty as living with dignity, including basic needs. K. S. Puttaswamy (2017) recognized privacy as a fundamental right, enhancing liberty’s scope.
10. Explain Jeremy Bentham’s principle of liberty and its relation to negative liberty.
Ans: Bentham’s principle of “greatest happiness for the greatest number” aligns with negative liberty by advocating non-interference. He believed individuals best protect their interests, opposing state obstructions to freedom.
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