Gandhi's view on Liberalism and Constitutionalism

Liberalism as an ideology is marked by a number of core concepts that reflect the basic values and ideals represented by it. Brought up in somewhat liberal atmosphere, it would have been natural for Gandhi to have imbibed certain liberal values and ideals. But the uniqueness of Gandhian thought process was that he did not imbibe the liberal value system without putting them to severe scrutiny in accordance with his own convictions and value system. In this process, he sometimes transcended the limits set by the liberal philosophy on certain aspects of life and modified the idea to a great extent to make that congruent with his own values and ideals. Gandhi went for only those ideas of liberalism that he found worth imbibing and modified the others to the extent needed to make that consistent with his own understanding and appreciation of those aspects of life. This section provides a brief discussion of the nature of some of these core concepts and the views of Gandhi on them

Individual at the Core: The basic premise on which the entire structure of liberal ideology is constructed appears to be the idea of individual. In fact, this has been the starting point for the genesis and development of the liberal philosophy as in its opposition to the decaying feudal order, the liberals argued for the primacy of individuals in society whose interests must be protected by way of constitutional government. However, different variants of liberalism have viewed the nature and place of individuals in society differently, ranging from isolated atoms to that of the proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them to further that of individuals being responsible participants in social activities and ready to partake their possessions for the welfare of the masses. Though the liberal perception of individuals as the central feature of any social formation was agreed upon by Gandhi, his idea of individuals differed from the liberal perception in two fundamental ways. One, Gandhi had firm belief in the notion that individuals, despite having an independent standing of their own in society, need to be congruent with the dynamics of social life. While they could retain their personal volitions intact in order to carry out self-purification measures, they need to be part and parcel of the social system and shoulder the responsibilities coming in its wake for the sake of the well-being of others. Two, Gandhi did not subscribe to the view of some liberals that certain natural rights of the individuals such as the right to property should be zealously protected to its maximum length in order to provide for ample opportunities to the individuals to develop their self to the maximum possible. Gandhi was a believer in the notion of ‘everyone according to his need, and to nobody according to his greed’. Gandhi, therefore, despite standing by the notion of individuals being prime component of social life, did not go too far in protecting his individual possessions even at the cost of the other individuals in society. Such an articulation of the nature of individuals in society appears to be in consonance with the Indian value system of balancing the status of individuals with the dynamics of the social needs

Notion of Freedom: In liberal philosophy, the next in order of priority after individual comes the idea of freedom. Given the changing nature of liberal ideology, freedom has been perceived by different liberals differently. The negative liberals conceptualised freedom in terms of absence of restraints under which the individuals were supposed to do anything and everything if they deem fit that doing so would enhance their individual developments. However, positive liberals theorised the concept of freedom in a more restricted manner by arguing for reasonable restrictions being put on the enjoyment of freedom to the extent of protecting the interests of fellow individuals and community as well. But Gandhi’s conceptualisation of freedom offered ______ _________ ___ ______ __________ ______ _______ _________ _______.
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