A Comparative Study of Principles of Equality According to the General Principles of the Constitution and the Principles of Theravada Buddhism

Abstract

The purposes of this research article were 1) to study the concept of equality according to the general principles of the constitution; 2) to study the concept of equality according to the Buddhist principles of Theravada Buddhism; and 3) to compare the principles of equality according to the general principles of the constitution and the Buddhist principles of Theravada Buddhism. It was a qualitative research by studying from documents, information, academic textbooks, international law, foreign laws, Thai laws, and various Sutta in Theravada Buddhism. The results of the research found that 1) the concept and theory regarding the principle of equality was found that it was a concept related to not unfairly discriminating against individuals. Equality of persons according to the constitution had 5 aspects: 1.1) equality in human dignity; 1.2) equality in social opportunities and livelihood; 1.3) equality in law and discipline; 1.4) equality in civil rights; and 1.5) equality in politics; 2) as for the principle of equality according to Buddhist philosophy, the principle of Kamma was used instead of the principle of Brahmanimit, which Mahatma Gandhi called for equal rights through a method called Satyasangaha or truth experiment and the anti-caste ideas of Dr.Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar who dedicated himself to fight for freedom and equality for fellow ethnicities. In terms of Ambedkar's idea, the researcher saw that this was consistent with Karl Marx's idea that the concept of equality began with the adoption of Hegel's “dialectical mentalism” philosophy applied. In addition, it was found that Albert Wayne Dicey's rule of law consisted of three main principles: (1) the principle of legality, (2) the principle of equality before the law, and (3) principles of protecting individual rights that court was the main of justice in society; 3) when comparing the principles of equality, there was a combined position on “human dignity” that had the perspective that everyone was born equal, equal by nature, equal to each other, but different in society.