निम्नलिखित में से कौन-सा कथन उपर्युक्त परिच्छेद के मूल विचार को सर्वोत्तम रूप से दर्शाता है ?
Read this question in English
Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea of the passage given above?
(a) The conceptions of what is right or wrong exist due to the formation of a state. · (b) Unless a ruling authority decides as to what is right or wrong, no man would be morally right. · (c) Man is inherently immoral and selfish in a natural state. · (d) The idea of what is right or wrong is necessary for the survival of human species.
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (a) क्या सही या ग़लत है — ये अवधारणाएँ राज्य के निर्माण के कारण अस्तित्व में हैं ।
In a natural state each man judges good and bad by his own advantage, so nothing is good or bad by common assent and 'sin cannot be conceived'. Only in a civil state is good and bad decreed by common consent — so shared notions of right and wrong come with the formation of the state.
- ✓ (a) 'Sin cannot be conceived in a natural state, but only in a civil state, which is decreed by common consent what is good or bad' — right and wrong, as shared ideas, arise with the state.
- ✗ (b) The passage speaks of common consent in a civil state, not a ruling authority deciding; and it does not say individuals cannot be morally right.
- ✗ (c) Man in a natural state consults his own advantage, but the passage does not call him 'inherently immoral' — it says sin cannot even be conceived there.
- ✗ (d) The survival of the human species is never discussed.
Remember · The central idea is the passage's main contrast (here, natural state versus civil state); reject options that add labels like 'immoral' or new themes.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·