PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Equality

Equality means fair treatment rather than equal treatment. Comment.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
R1 equal moral worth, not sameness → Aristotle: equals equally, unequals unequally R2 two readings of equality → same rule for all vs treatment by circumstance / need
Body flow
equal treatment = sameness in law (Nozick → redistribution as rights- violation) → but unequal starting points → Dalits / Blacks / women / disabled → identical rule entrenches advantage → Tawney pike-minnows → fair treatment corrects → differential treatment by need / disadvantage → Rawls difference principle → Sen resources vs functionings → protective discrimination / affirmative action
Counter-view
Nozick: differential treatment violates rights → answer: not arbitrary, bounded, only to protect the weakest
Conclusion routes
R1 identical treatment of unequals reproduces inequality → equality = fair treatment R2 fair treatment secures equal worth in moral + material sense → distributive equality

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2018, Equality