Which of the following statement is incorrect?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 2:

According to Karl Marx, a stateless society is possible through the high character development of man.

The statement "According to Karl Marx, a stateless society is possible through the high character development of man" is the *incorrect* statement and is therefore the correct choice for this question. Karl Marx certainly envisioned a future stateless society—the stage of Communism—but the path to this society was rooted in material and historical processes, specifically the development of productive forces and a proletarian revolution, not the moral or 'high character development' of individuals. Marx's theory is based on historical materialism, which dictates that changes in society (including the eventual 'withering away' of the state) happen due to fundamental shifts in the economic base, class struggle, and the subsequent abolition of private property, not through moralistic improvement or individual virtue. Marx saw the state as an instrument of class oppression (the bourgeoisie's tool), and its disappearance would naturally follow the eradication of class differences, which is an economic and political outcome, not a moral one.

The incorrect option is 1:

According to William Godwin, society is a boon to man, but government is a curse to him.

This statement is correct, reflecting William Godwin's foundational ideas, making it an incorrect answer choice for the MCQ. Godwin, a prominent philosophical anarchist, drew a sharp distinction between society and government. He believed that society, based on shared reason and cooperation, naturally promotes human happiness and progress, thus being a 'boon'. However, he viewed government, which relies on force and compulsion, as inherently restrictive of individual judgment and moral development, thus being a 'curse'. Godwin argued that government institutionalizes error and inequality, and once mankind achieved perfect rationality and enlightenment, government would become superfluous.

The incorrect option is 3:

According to Karl Popper, Plato, Hegel and Karl Marx are the theorist of Closed Society.

This statement is correct, reflecting a central thesis of Karl Popper's work, making it an incorrect answer choice for the MCQ. In his seminal work, *The Open Society and Its Enemies*, Popper criticized philosophers whom he identified as contributing to totalitarian thought, or what he termed the 'Closed Society'. Popper specifically targeted Plato (due to his elitist blueprint for the state), G.W.F. Hegel (for his historicism and glorification of the state), and Karl Marx (for his rigid historicism and revolutionary ideology). Popper argued that these thinkers provided the intellectual foundations for suppressing individual liberty and rational criticism, which are the hallmarks of an 'Open Society'.

The incorrect option is 4:

According to Karl Marx, the establishment of a Communist Society will be an indicator of such a change, in which man will move-out of 'kingdom of 'Necessity' and enter the 'kingdom of freedom'.

This statement is correct and is a direct expression of Marx's philosophy regarding the highest stage of Communism, making it an incorrect answer choice for the MCQ. Marx differentiated between the "kingdom of necessity" and the "kingdom of freedom." The former represents the phase where human labor is defined by the basic need to survive and reproduce (material production), where people are subjected to economic laws. The "kingdom of freedom," however, is achieved when the necessities of material production are managed efficiently by a fully developed collective society, reducing the required labor time and allowing individuals to pursue creative development and self-realization outside the constraints of sheer economic survival.