# The Concept of Equality

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2018/05/01/the-concept-of-equality/
- Published: 2018-05-01T02:17:22+00:00
- Author: shuktara

Rate this post

**Author:** Susmita Bhattacharya [](https://writersworkshopindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-Concept-of-Equality.jpg)
**
Pages:** 244 **Year of Publication:** First published 2002, second edition 2018 **
Price:** Rs 500 **ISBN: **978-93-5045-170-0 (9789350451700)

_**About the Author**_
 Susmita Bhattacharya was born in Calcutta in 1947. She received
a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Poona University in 1975. Her thesis, ‘A Critical Study
of the Concept of Equality’ was awarded the university’s Gurudev Ranade Damle Prize.
With a scholarship from AJC Bose College in Calcutta, she passed her B. Ed. in 1989.

Dr. Bhattacharya combines her academic and social interests with poetry and literature.
Her Bengali poetry volumes include _Karir Pahar Harer Pahar_ (second edition 1989)
and _Purushottamer Sange Pancham Sakshatkar _(1992). Her English volumes, in translation,
comprise _**Lost Atlantis and Other Poems **_(**Writers Workshop**, India, 1995)
and _Dark_ (Sanbun, Delhi, 2004). She has two bilingual collections to her credit,_**
[Selected Poems](http://www.writersworkshopindia.com/books/selected-poems-4/) **_(**
Writers Workshop**, India, third edition 2017) and _Selected Fifty Five Poems_ (
2006). Her poems in Bengali, translated into English, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese and
Telugu have been published in magazines and anthologies in India, Sweden and the
United Kingdom. Apart from this book, she has written two other works of research:
_An Aesthetic Assessment of Bihu Songs _(2004) and _How Different is the Damned 
Gender?_ (2009).

Dr. Bhattacharya is actively involved in women’s rights projects and is associated
with Maitree – a network that campaigns for the rights of women. She is a member
of the Institute of Social Work and teaches community children at its centre in 
Calcutta.

_**Teaser**_
 In her introduction to the book, Dr. Bhattacharya writes:

“Each of the human values poses a problem to the philosopher. These values are both
universal and individualistic – they appeal to almost all the members of the human
community, yet they do not mean the same thing to everybody like the visible and
tangible objects. So far as the values are concerned, the vision of the layman is
almost always coloured and distorted by his particular environment and early training.
As a result different individuals look at the same value in different ways, and 
very often fight over it more zealously and more fanatically than they do on any
other issue. Moreover, for the same reason, people differ about the relative worth
of the different values, too. It is the task of the philosopher to examine and interpret
the values in a clear-sighted and rational way, and thereby bring some order in 
such chaotic situations.

These problems are more acute in the modern age than they ever were. We are now 
witnessing what is possibly the greatest event in the history of mankind – social
and political consciousness, instead of being restricted to the elite, is spreading
through the mass. At the same time, the old way of thinking is changing to make 
way for what is called the “new morality”. And in this changing situation, the value
which is emerging as of paramount importance is that of equality. The new morality
put it in a very high place, and its appeal to the mass is definitely greater than
that of any other value. As a result wars are being fought and revolutions are being
brought about in its name. Yet, even the leaders and thinkers are scarcely clear
and never unanimous about what this value really means, let alone the common men.

As the bibliography attached to the end of this work indicates, philosophers are
and were fully conscious of this situation, and many works have been published which
discuss various problems concerning the concept of equality. Yet scarcely any of
these works tries to examine this concept from all the aspects of it. The concept
of equality has many aspects – it is a socio-political, a legal, an ethico-religious
and a metaphysical and spiritual concept. In the present work, I have tried to analyse
this concept from all these aspects and to show what it really means in each of 
these spheres. I have also tried to meet the chief arguments offered by some philosophers
against the maxim of human equality – arguments such as that this maxim ignores 
the facts of fundamental individual inequalities, and that it clashes with our other
cherished values, like liberty and security. I have tried to show that individual
inequalities do not stand in the way of a proper application of this maxim, and 
that the other values are actually not contrary but allied to it.”

_**Contents**_
 I. What we mean by the maxim “All Men are Equal” / 11

II. The Relation of the Concept of Equality with that of Uniformity and Liberty /
33

III. Biological Inequalities and their Social Implications / 43
 i) Heredity and
Environment ii) Race Inequalities iii) Gender Inequalities

IV. Social, Political and Economic Aspects of the Concept of Equality / 89

V. Implications of the Maxim of Legal Equality / 127

VI. The Ethical and Religious Basis of the Ideal of Equality / 163
 i) The Ethical
Basis ii) The Religious Basis

VII. Man as in Constant Progress through Transitory Inequalities / 209

VIII. Conclusion: A Summary Survey / 217

IX. Bibliography / 227

Review of First Edition / 242