Question : James Mill the apostle of utilitarian philosophy proposed a revolution of Indian society through the weapon of law solely. But in actual policy framing other influences and considerations weighed much more than the colonial State. Elucidate.
(2015)
Answer : James Mill did not set out simply to provide a justification for British rule in India; this, after all, was not the main issue at stake. He was more anxious to demonstrate the virtues of the principle of utility as a guide to the conduct of affairs in India and, by implication, in Britain also.
Mill’s criticisms of Hindu law and government, and of a society based on caste, tradition and religious dogma, were derived from ....
Question : France was even more fertile than Britain in producing new socialist theories and movements though bore less concrete results in France than Britain.
(2015)
Answer : The term ‘socialism’ made its appearance in print in England in 1827. Five years later, the term was used for the first time in a French publication. It is no accident that the socialist idea --and the socialist movement--first appeared in England and France. For socialism was a product of two revolutions in human affairs, each with their respective roots in those two countries: the industrial revolution in England and the popular-democratic revolution in France.
The ....
Question : Rousseau strove to reconcile the liberty of the individual and the institution of Government through a new vision of the Contract-Theory of Government.
(2014)
Answer : Jacques Rousseau a French philosopher gave a new interpretation to the theory of Social Contract in his work “The Social Contract”. According to him, social contract is not a historical fact but a hypothetical construction of reason. Prior to the Social Contract, the life in the State of Nature was happy and there was equality among men.
As time passed, however, humanity faced certain changes. As the overall population increased, the means by which people could ....
Question : For Kant Enlightenment is mankind final coming of age the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error.
(2013)
Answer : Kant defined enlightenment as “man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage” and the “courage to use your own reason”. Kant believed that “laziness and cowardice” were the prime reasons why many men remained un-enlightened.Kant asserted that people refused to throw off the yoke of “self-imposed tutelage” because it was easier to pay people to think for them and run their lives. As Kant put it a person could pay to buy a book to serve as ....
Question : There must be an end to white monopoly on political power and a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to ensure that the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly democratized Discuss.
(2013)
Answer : Upon his release from prison on February 11, 1990, Mandela had said----- The apartheid destruction on our sub-continent is incalculable. The fabric of family life of millions of our people has been shattered. Millions are homeless and unemployed, our economy lies in ruins and our people are embroiled in political strife. It is our belief that the future of our country can only be determined by a body which is democratically elected on a non-racial ....
Question : The despotic rulers of Europe were influenced by philosophy of enlightenment and began to follow a benevolent policy towards their subjects
(2012)
Answer : Enlightened absolutism also called benevolent despotism is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by enlightenment.
Enlightened monarchs or rulers embraced the principles of the enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality and applied them to their territories. They tended to allow religious toleration, freedom of speech and the press, and the right to hold private property. Most favoured the arts, sciences and education.
In fact, the rulers ruled with intent of improving ....
Question : The American Revolution was essentially an economic conflict between American capitalism and British mercantilism
(2012)
Answer : The American revolution was not a social revolution unlike either French or the Haitian revolutions. The American revolution was a political upheaval during the last half of the 18C in which 13 colonies in Northern America joined together to break free from the British empire, combining to become the USA. Under British Mercantilism, there were basically two ways that the North American colonies were important to Britain. Under the Navigation Act 1651, and later the ....
Question : The promptings of the heart are more to be trusted than the logic of the mind. Rousseau.
(2011)
Answer : The direct derivation could be understood as: listening to our heart may lead us to utmost blissfulness. By and large Emotions trigger and provoke thinking processess. flower, feelings may be out of ones experieces and ideas. It is said that feelings can make us believe & perform certain, rather, unplausible and unatttainable effects/things.
Rousseau known for his Romantic reflections. His theory of ideas and romanticism reckons all to be born as good. It is the application ....
Question : He Voltaire was living in the Age of Enlightenment The age itself was not enlightened E. Kant
(2010)
Answer : Voltaire lived in the age when the contemporary frame witnessed Renaissance. The 18th century was named as Age of Reason. The French Philosopher took leading part in exposition of rationalist print of age.
However the contemporary situation was not enlightened. France was grabbed in wrap of feudalism where the first two estate controlled the third estate. The 1st estate the clergy occupied a position of conspicuous importance in France. Though only 0.5% of the population the ....
Question : All long marches begin with small steps
(2010)
Answer : No revolution ever in history of human civilization has happened out of vacuum but is rather a gradual and continuous process. For any revolution to occur the background is prepared by the various socio-economic-political tyrannies under which people suffer and accumulate explosive amount of dissatisfaction which just requires a small incidence to precipitate it out. This is true about every revolutions starting from American Revolution to French revolution to Communist revolution of China under Mao ....
Question : Give reasons for the origin of the Renaissance in Italy.
(2007)
Answer : The Renaissance, a French word meaning rebirth or revival led Europe out of the middle ages into the modern times. It was a period between the early fourteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The rebirth occurred in the fields of art, literature and science. The term of Renaissance was coined by the fifteenth century intellectuals who believed that their age represented the rebirth of classical culture following an infirming age of darkness as they termed the ....
Question : Bring out the main features of the administrative system under Delhi Sultanate during Turko-Afghan period.
(2006)
Answer : Establishment of Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century constitutes a significant landmark in the evolution of the administrative system. A system which was characterised by fragmented nature of the policy during the post-Harsha period was again put under a centralised dispensation by the Turko-Afghans.
The foremost feature of the administrative system was that the Sultan’s office was the most important. The Sultan had the supreme political, military and legal authority vested in him. He was responsible ....
Question : “The Renaissance scholars laid the eggs which Luther, the father of the Reformation, later on hatched.” Discuss.
(2006)
Answer : Among the several developments that have heralded the beginning of modern world, the two most important developments are the Renaissance and the Reformation. The ideas they unleashed and the effects they created were far reaching.
Renaissance literally means rebirth. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in form of revival of faiths in classical civilization and in power of man to fashion his happiness in the world.Its chief feature was humanism. This exalted man, and ....
Question : ‘Rousseau’s political philosophy contains the seeds of Socialism, Absolutism and Democracy.’
(2004)
Answer : Jean Jacques Rousseau was a major philosopher, writer, and composer of the eighteenth century Enlightenment, whose political philosophy with seeds of socialism influenced the French Revolution and the development of modern political and educational thought. Perhaps Jean Jacques Rousseau’s most important work is The Social Contract, which outlines the basis for a legitimate political order within a framework of classical republicanism. The treatise begins with the dramatic opening lines, “Man is born free, and everywhere ....
Question : ‘The Renaissance was the discovery of the world and of man’.
(2002)
Answer : The period before renaissance was a dark age in the history of Europe. Feudalism and its repercussion on the society had made whole European society a poor state where political system itself was also highly exploitative.
The spirit of renaissance opposed the superstitious belief in a modest way, revived the old days social and moral values and enlightened the European masses by criticising the existing religious dogmatism. The greatest achievement of this age was the spirit ....
