John Locke And John Stuart Mill's Definition Of Freedom
...more freedom in political
society than John Stuart Mill does. John Locke's The Second Treatise of
Government and John Stuart Mill's On Liberty are influential and potent literary
works which while outlining the conceptual framework of each thinkers ideal
state present two divergent visions of the very nature of man and his freedom.
John Locke and John Stuart Mill have different views regarding how much freedom
man ought to have in political society because they have different views
regarding man's basic potential for inherently good or evil behavior, as well as
the ends or purpose of political societies.
In order to examine how each thinker views man and the freedom he ought
to have in political society it is necessary to define freedom or liberty from
each philosophers perspective.
In The Second Treatise of Government, John Locke states his belief that
all men exist in "a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose
of their possessions and person as they think fit, within the bounds of the law
of nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man. "
(Locke 4) Locke believes that man exists in a state of nature and thus exists
in a state of uncontrollable liberty which has only the law of nature to
restrict it, which is reason. (Locke 5) However Locke does state that man does
not have the license to destroy himself or any other creature in his possession
unless a legitimate purpose requires it. Locke emphasizes the ability and
opportunity to own and profit from property as being necessary to be free.
In On Liberty John Stuart Mill defines liberty in relation to three
spheres; each successive sphere progressively encompasses and defines more
elements relating to political society. The first sphere consists of the
individuals "inward domain of consciousness; demanding liberty of conscious in
the most comprehensive sense;...
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