Question

Notes on Relation between equality and liberty

Answer 1

same conditions viewed from different angles. They are the two sides of the same coin. Though there is a close relationship between liberty and equality, yet there are some political thinkers who do not find any relationship between liberty and equality. For example, Lord Acton and De Tocqueville who were the ardent advocates of liberty, found no relationship between the two conditions.

To them liberty and equality were antagonistic and antithetical to each other. Lord Acton maintains that “The passion for equality made vain the hope for liberty”. Such political thinkers maintain that where there is liberty, there is no equality and vice versa. These political thinkers are of the opinion that people were conferred inequality by nature. We find inequality in nature also.

In some parts there are rivers while in others there are mountains and in still other parts there are plains and fields. No two persons are similar in their ability and capacity. And so there cannot be equality in society.

The views of Lord Acton and De Tocqueville are not accepted by modern political thinkers. Professor H.J. Laski has very aptly remarked in this connection: “To persons so ardent for liberty as Tocqueville and Lord Acton, liberty and equality, are antithetic things. It is a drastic conclusion. But it turns, in the case of both men, upon a misunderstanding of what equality implies”.
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Answer 2

Answer:

Liberty and Equality are closely related to each other. There is no value of liberty in the absence of equality. They are the same conditions viewed from different angles. ... For example, Lord Acton and De Tocqueville who were the ardent advocates of liberty, found no relationship between the two conditions.