Introduction

A major concern of political theory has been to resolve the sphere and scope of actions of the authority and the individual. This issue has drawn attention to the principles that define or determine the limit and scope of their relationship. Principles of rights and liberty primarily deal with state-individual relationship and define how much political obligation is required from the individual and how much responsibility the State carries. However, there also needed are principles that determine and define the limit and scope of liberty and rights amongst the individuals themselves. To deal with such issues the principles of equality and justice come into the picture. The issue involved is how and in which way the State would like to define the relationship between itself and the individual, on the one hand, and between the individuals themselves, on the other. Would it like to engage each individual equally by providing equal rights and liberties, or would it like to engage different groups of individuals differently on the basis of positive discrimination for certain capacity differences, cultural differences and other inequalities? How giving primacy to one principle alone, e.g. liberty, hampers the other principles, such as equality and justice, or how emphasis on the principle of justice distorts the principle of equality. What relationship these principles have with each other and how far are they significant for organizing a political society? We will look at the principles and conditions that define the relationship of the State and the individual on the one hand, and amongst individual themselves, on the other.