Chapter 4 Social Justice

Textbook Questions Solved

Question 1.
What does it mean to give each person his/her due? How has the meaning of “giving each his due” changed over time?
Answer:
To give each person his/her due ensures the well-being of the people or equal importance should be given to all people, i.e. a doctor is concerned with the well being of his patients as well as the rules of government ensures the well being of citizens also. All these dues have been changed over times:

Question 2.
Briefly discuss the three principles of justice outlined in the chapter. Explain each with examples.
Answer:

Question 3.
Does the principle of considering the special needs of people conflict with the principle of equal treatment for all?
Answer:

Question 4.
How does Rawls use the idea of a veil of ignorance to argue that fair and just distribution can be defended on rational grounds?
Answer:

Question 5.
What are generally considered to be the basic minimum requirements of people for living a healthy and productive life? What is the responsibility of governments in trying to ensure this minimum to all?
Answer:

Question 6.
Which of the following arguments could be used to justify state action to provide basic minimum conditions of life to ail citizens?
(a) Providing free services to the poor and needy can be justified as an act of charity.
(b) Providing all citizens with a basic minimum standard of living is one way of ensuring equality of opportunity.
(c) Some people are naturally lazy and we should be kind to them.
(d) Ensuring a basic facilities and a minimum standard of living to all is a recognition of our shared humanity and a human right.
Answer:
(b) Providing all citizens with a basic minimum standard of living on one way of ensuring equality of opportunity.

Extra Questions Solved

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Define justice
Answer:
Justice relates all individuals with each other and connect with the fact as to what type of moral, social, economic, political, legal relations are developed together between individuals.

Question 2.
Whose duty was to maintain dharma in the society?
Answer:
The kings’ primary duty was to maintain dharma in the society.

Question 3.
Who was Glaucon?
Answer:
A friend of Socrates, famous thinker of ancient Greece.

Question 4.
Who wrote Republic?
Answer:
Plato, a famous philosopher of Greece wrote ‘Republic’.

Question 5.
Who was Immanuel Kant?
Answer:
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who gave due and equal considerations to all individuals.

Question 6.
Who was Confucious?
Answer:
Confucious was a Chinese philosopher to argue to maintain justice to punish wrong-doers and rewarding the virtuous ones

Question 7.
Why do some people state “Justice delayed is justice denied”?
Answer:
Because if a decision is delayed too long, the aggrieved person may not receive any benefit from judicial proceedings, i.e. if person is dead what is the use of getting a decision in favour.

Question 8.
What does Socrates state about justice?
Answer:
Socrates states that justice involves well-being of all people including enemies also.

Question 9.
What is just society in the words of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar?
Answer:
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said that a society in which ascending sense of reverance and descending sense of contempt is dissolved into the creation of compassionate society.

Question 10.
What are the principles of justice?
Answer:

Question 11.
Who is John Rawls?
Answer:
John Rawls is a political philosopher who propounded the theory of veil of ignorance, i.e. rational justification for acknowledging the need to provide help to the least privileged members of society.

Question 12.
How has India ensured social justice?
AnswerP:
Social justice refers to no discrimination among citizens on any ground. India has ensured social justice:

Question 13.
What are political dimensions of justice?
Answer:

Question 14.
What are economic dimensions of justice?
Answer:

Question 15.
What is moral justice?
Answer:
Moral justice refers to natural principles, i.e.:

Question 16.
What are liberalists’ and Marxists’ views of justice?
Answer:

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is social justice? Mention its main features also.
Answer:
Social justice refers to all the people living in a society are equal:

Question 2.
What do you mean by protective discrimination?
Answer:
If a government takes some steps for the betterment of weaker society, known as protective
discrimination as:

Question 3.
What is economic justice? Mention some features of economic justice.
Answer:
Economic justice refers to providing an equal opportunity to the citizens to acquire their basic needs or livelihood:

Question 4.
What is concept of justice as per Plato?
Answer:
For Plato, justice implies a life of people conforming to the rules of functional specialisation means that one man should practice only one thing to which his nature is best suited:

Passage-Based Questions

Passage 1.
Read the passage (NCERT Textbook, page 55) given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Although there might be broad agreement in modern society about the equal importance of all people, it is not a simple matter to decide how to give each person his/her due. A number of different principles have been put forward in this regard. One of the principles is the principle of treating equals equally. It is considered that all individuals share certain characteristics as human beings. Therefore they deserve equal rights and equal treatment. Some of the important rights which are granted liberal democracies today include civil rights such as the rights of life, liberty and property, political rights like the right to vote, which enable people to participate in political processes, and certain social rights which would include the right to enjoy equal opportunities with other members of the society.

Questions:
1. Mention any one principle to decide equal importance of all people.
2. What does this principle refer?
3. What are political rights?
Answers:
1. Principle of treating equals equally.

2. To consider that all individuals share certain rights who deserve equal rights and equal treatment, i.e. right to life, liberty and property.

3. Right to vote, to contest elections to hold public offices, etc.

Passage 2.
Read the passage (NCERT Textbook, page 59) given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Differences of opinion on matters such whether, and how, to distribute resources and ensure equal access to education and jobs arouse fierce passions in society and even sometimes provoke violence. People believe the future of themselves and their families may be at stake. We have only to remind ourselves about the anger and even violence which has sometimes been roused by proposals to reserve seats in educational institutions or in government employment in our country. As students of political theory however, we should be able to calmly examine the issues involved in terms of our understanding of the principles of justice. Can schemes to help the disadvantaged be justified in terms of a theory of justice? In the next section, we will discuss the theory of just distribution put forward by the well-known political philosopher, John Rawls. Rawls has argued that there could indeed be a rational justification for acknowledging the need to provide help to the least privileged members of a society.

Questions:
1. On which issue sometimes violence may be provoked?
2. Who is John Rawls?
3. What does John Rawls reveal?
4. Give an example when violence had been occurred on just distribution of resources.
Answers:
1. On the issue of distribution of resources and to ensure equal access to education and jobs.

2. A well known political philosopher.

3. He argued that there could indeed be a rational justification for acknowledging the need to provide help to the least privileged members of a society.

4. On the proposals to reserved seats in educational institutions or government employment

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What are the different kinds of concepts of justice?
Answer:
Justice refers to faithful realization of existing laws against any arbitrary dealing and the ideal element in law to which a good law should aspire for. Justice can be classified as:
1. Social justice:

2. Political justice:

3. Economic justice:

4. Moral justice:

5. Legal justice:

Question 2.
Mention the steps taken by Constitution of India to ensure social justice.
Answer:
This is the duty of state to establish a society based on equality through executives and legislatives:

Question 3.
What measurements have been taken by India to secure social justice?
Answer:

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