(a) Mill’s work was crucial to the development of liberalism, because it straddled the divide between classical and modern theories. Analyze. (20 marks)

(b) Wollstonecraft developed first systematic feminist critique. Discuss her main ideas. (15 mar

Question

(a) Mill’s work was crucial to the development of liberalism, because it straddled the divide between classical and modern theories. Analyze. (20 marks)

(b) Wollstonecraft developed first systematic feminist critique. Discuss her main ideas. (15 marks)

(c) Discuss Gandhi’s approach to property in relation to trusteeship. (15 marks)

UPSC Answer Check · Accepted Answer

(a) Mill as the bridge between classical and modern liberalism

John Stuart Mill is the pivotal figure in liberal thought because his work synthesizes the classical emphasis on individual liberty with the modern focus on social development and welfare. His "classical" face is most visible in On Liberty (1859), where he articulates the "harm principle"—the idea that power can only be rightfully exercised over an individual to prevent harm to others. This framework, which distinguishes between "self-regarding" and "other-regarding" actions, provides the bedrock for negative liberty and the defense of free speech against the "tyranny of the majority."

However, Mill’s "modern" face emerges in his qualitative utilitarianism and political theory. In Utilitarianism (1861), he argues for "higher and lower pleasures," famously stating that "it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied." On Liberty (Chapter III) likewise treats individuality as "one of the elements of well-being", human nature being "not a machine... but a tree" that must grow on all sides. In Principles of Political Economy (1848) he kept laissez-faire as "the general practice" but admitted wide exceptions, and in later editions and writings moved towards workers' cooperatives, trade unions (recanting the wage-fund doctrine in 1869) and taxation of the unearned increment of land. Furthermore, Considerations on Representative Government (1861) presents a "developmental" view of democracy, where participation is an educative process, a model C.B. Macpherson later classified as "developmental democracy" (The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy, 1977).

The "straddle" is best understood as a coherent indirect utilitarianism: liberty is the condition for the "permanent interests of man as a progressive being." While critics like Gertrude Himmelfarb see "two Mills," the bridge is evident in his advocacy for women’s rights in The Subjection of Women (1869) and his 1867 amendment to the Reform Bill to substitute "person" for "man". Yet, the transition is not seamless; his proposal for plural voting and his defense of "despotism" for "barbarians" reveal illiberal residues within his liberalism. Ultimately, Mill is the hinge because his premises remained classical while his conclusions became developmental and social.

(b) Wollstonecraft's main ideas

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) stands as the first systematic feminist critique because it moved beyond isolated complaints to a theoretical argument based on reason. Her central thesis is that reason is not sex-specific; the perceived inferiority of women is not a natural fact but the product of "miseducation." She explicitly targets the conduct writers of her day, such as Dr. John Gregory and Lord Chesterfield, and the philosophy of Rousseau, whose character "Sophie" in Emile (1762) represents the ideal of a woman trained to be a "toy" or "spaniel" for a man.

Wollstonecraft’s positive programme is radical for its time. She argues that women must be educated to be rational partners in the republic, not just "feminine" ornaments. This requires a national system of free, co-educational day schools where boys and girls learn together. She insists that "virtue is one and the same for both sexes," rejecting the idea of a lesser "feminine virtue." Furthermore, she argues for economic independence, suggesting that women should be allowed to enter the professions—medicine, business, and farm management—so they are not forced into marriage, which she called "legal prostitution", for financial survival.

While she tentatively calls for a "revolution in female manners" and representation, her primary focus remains on the capacity for reason. The claim of her being "first" is qualified by precursors like Christine de Pizan (1405) and Mary Astell (1694), but Wollstonecraft’s work was the first to be sustained and theoretically grounded in the Enlightenment. Her arguments were carried forward by J.S. Mill and Harriet Taylor, though later feminists have critiqued her middle-class frame and her suspicion of the body and sexual desire.

(c) Gandhi on property and trusteeship

Gandhi’s approach to property is a moral and spiritual critique of private ownership, grounded in the concept of "trusteeship." His moral premises are drawn from the Isha Upanishad ("One should enjoy one's possessions by renouncing them") and the vows of aparigraha (non-possession) and asteya (non-stealing). Influenced by John Ruskin’s Unto This Last and Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi argued that one may hold property but never own it absolutely.

The doctrine of trusteeship posits that the rich are merely "trustees" of their surplus wealth. They have a moral duty to use their resources for the benefit of the poor, much like a trustee manages a fund for a beneficiary. In this view, rights flow from duties; one has no right to property beyond what is necessary for one's own sustenance and the service of others. This is a "means-end unity" where the economic structure must reflect the moral goal of ahimsa (non-violence).

The "sanction" behind this doctrine was not state force but satyagraha (truth-force). The 1918 Ahmedabad mill strike, in which Gandhi backed the workers' demand for a 35% wage increase and his fast brought the dispute to arbitration, anticipated this sanction. The Practical Trusteeship Formula drafted by his associates in the 1940s went further, accepting legislative regulation of ownership and a statutory minimum and maximum income, and the Constructive Programme (1941) called economic equality "the master key to non-violent independence". However, the approach has been criticized as utopian by figures like Nehru and Ambedkar, who argued that property is a legal and political power that cannot be resolved by moral appeals alone. Despite this, the concept of trusteeship remains a cornerstone of Gandhian economics, providing a non-revolutionary path toward economic equality and social justice.

(a) Mill’s work was crucial to the development of liberalism, because it straddled the divide between classical and modern…

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(a) Mill as the bridge between classical and modern liberalism

(b) Wollstonecraft's main ideas

(c) Gandhi on property and trusteeship

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