“From the equality of rights springs identity of our highest interests; you cannot subvert your neighbour’s rights without striking a dangerous blow at your own.”

– Carl Shurz

Before venturing forth into the vast abyss of a topic that ‘equality as a normative value’ is and trying to comprehend the nitty gritty implications of this concept, let us first strive to understand what ‘equality’ actually means. Equality is a loaded, nuanced and highly contested concept. The idea of equality, identity and equivalence has been employed with various shades of meaning since man began to speculate. At least since the French Revolution, equality has served as one of the leading ideals of a nation. It is, at present, probably the most controversial of the great social ideals. There is debate concerning the precise notion of equality, the measure of the ideal of equality (equality of what) and the extension of equality (equality among whom)

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