Paper Example on Political Theories of Locke, Mill, and Rousseau

Introduction

In the whole process of balancing between the public sphere and private life, John Locke explains his thought about liberty using his theory of Liberalism to solve this. Equally, one of the famous philosophers today, Jean-Jacques Rousseau narrates on how state dictates equality and democracy of individuals. Rousseau in his book 'The Social Contract' explains various types of government and how this kind of government dictates freedom and how they exercise power. On the other hand, another common philosopher, John Mill, states and explains how an individual's rights to freedom are limited through societal beliefs and marriage beliefs. John Mill is one of the common philosophers in today's academic context. He explains individual rights in society and how the liberty of women has been limited in society. Thus, both of these philosophical scholars, Mill, John Locke, and Rousseau examine how individuals balance between there public sphere and the private sphere as far as liberty is concerned.

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John Locke in his book 'Second Treatises of Government' explains how men move from a nature of freedom that is characterized by own governance to a state where civil government or rather the legislative arm of government controls all powers with full authority (Locke, 2015). Thus, the philosopher, Locke, argues through the use of his theory known as liberalism that the freedom of man started to get limited when the government so it wise to control and own property. Thus, through his argument, one is right to argue that liberty of man got limited the moment limitation of property ownership was introduced; this is when power sovereignty was manifested on the hands of the government of the day.

According to Locke's theory, every each man has a right to life, liberty as well as ownership of property. John Locke believes that every human being is equal and thus nobody has power over another person's life and freedom rights. The philosopher also argues that no one, including the government of the day, should dictate health, liberty as well as possession of a property. Similarly, the philosopher believed in the natural rights that could create a free and democratic government where the supreme powers are manifested on the people. In his view about natural rights, Locke had a feeling that people should be left free and their freedom rights guaranteed to them because they are born with the freedom that the government should protect.

On the other hand, through his book, 'The Social Contract' Jean-Jacques Rousseau starts that liberty of individuals should be maintained by legislatures and waiver of individuals' natural rights in favor of a government or rather the state. In his understanding and his take on liberty, unlike Locke, Rousseau emphasizes the creation of a country, which controls the powers, as well as the property of the individual. Just like when a society is formed, there are rules and regulations, which require that a property of an individual remain in the hands of the community. Thus, Rousseau in his view he believes that justice, freedom, and liberty of an individual should be per the civil authority. Those individuals according to his principles of social contract should act as if the administration is legitimate.

The Social Contract theory equally entails that individuals' freedom and liberty at times should be limited according to contracts laid down. Rousseau states that for individuals to protect their property, they should agree on a contract through which they will use the laid down rules of that particular contract to accept different obligations for the exchange of various benefits related to social cooperation. In the essence of balancing liberty between government's demands and private sphere, Rousseau argues that the republic which is a society governed by law should adhere to the principles of social contract. However, freedom and liberty of individuals in a community are determined and even controlled through a vote where the representatives play a significant role in representing the people.

When comparing Locke's theory of Liberalism and Rousseau's principles of social contract, one is right to argue that they both have different views about the role of the state in an individual's liberty and freedom. John Locke on his side believes that individuals' should be a free man from the moment he is born and the only thing a state or government should do is to protect the freedom of this individuals. While on the other hand, Rousseau believes that the state liberty and freedom of individuals in a state are limited by the principles of social contract theory (Rousseau, 2016). As long as the two philosophers believe in freedom and liberty of individuals, Jean-Jacques Rousseau argues that a state through some laydown rules has a hand in determining the private sphere of an individual. Unlike Locke, Rousseau emphasizes a collective grouping of individuals which he calls a 'Sovereign' that is as equally as an individual is. Thus, in his thinking, the state has powers to influence the liberty and freedom of an individual.

On the other hand, John Stuart Mill uses the institution of marriage to demonstrate freedom and liberty of individuals. Unlike Locke who uses the general rights and general freedom of people in a state, Mill limits his thinking on marriage and individuality as far as liberty and freedom are concerned. Mill uses the laws governing marriage and the space of women outside the institution of marriage to demonstrate the liberation of women in society. In his book 'Subjection Of Women' John Mill disputes the notion that women are naturally born unequal to men. Thus, the naturally notion that women are born unequal to men subjects men to discriminate hat women in society. Mill states that discrimination of one's sex is a challenge to freedom of liberty. The philosopher, John Mill, replaces this notion with the principle of perfect equality among individuals in society. Mill acknowledges that no gender should be discriminated as well as no gender should be entitled to any power or any privileges.

Just like Locke, John Mill believes that every individual has a right to be free and gain liberty without any restriction. When comparing Locke and Mill, the two philosophical scholars think that every individual is born free, and no one has a right to intimidate them. Considering the institution of marriage, Mill takes the discrimination of women as a criminal offense and that the state or rather the government should use marriage rules to protect the freedom and liberty of women. The similarity between Locke' s theory and Mill's thinking is that both of them believe in equality, that nobody is above the other and that nobody is entitled to dictate the other individual.

Equally, when comparing the thoughts of Mill and Rousseau, there is a similarity between their ideas concerning freedom and liberty as related to the principles of social contract. Rousseau states that 'sovereign' has been equalized to society have laid down contract rules that determine freedom and liberty of an individual. Principles of social contract according to Rousseau require that for individuals to have freedom and right, and then there should be a legal agreement in the form of a deal that ought to be considered. On the same note, Rousseau narrates that freedom and liberty are brought through a vote or somewhat elections. On the other hand, just like the principles of social contract, Mill argues that equality and freedom of women in marriage can equally be brought or somewhat influenced by the agreement of laws laid down on the constitution and laws of marriage.

John Mill's argument about discrimination and liberty of women in marriage is based on the 19th-century perception of women and their role in the society (Mill, 2011). His argument is based on a historical setting when women had no place in society, and their positions were kitchen based chores. In the early 18th and 19th centuries, women were taught on how to be good mothers and how to take care of their husbands and children. However, with time, women have been empowered through various organizations and movements hence their role in society is appreciated as they even hold leadership positions. Thus, his theory seems to be outdated in today's century since women have freedom and liberty in marriage.

Rousseau thinking is based on the transparent representative governance which does not provide total liberty and freedom for the ordinary citizens. The thoughts of Rousseau do not match with the theory of Locke which looks like the theory that emphasizes the freedom of humankind. Thus, the philosophy of Rousseau seems to rely on the sovereign or rather government authority hence property and liberty of an individual are dictated by those in power. Unlike Locke's theory, which suggests that a man is born free and that nobody should dictate his freedom, Rousseau's thoughts seem to be negative as compared to the other two scholars. Thus, I prefer the views of John Locke than the thinking of Rousseau.

Conclusion

As noted, the three scholars, Locke, Mill, and Rousseau express their thoughts on man's freedom and liberty using different perceptive. John Locke argues that the government should not dictate an individual's private sphere. Locke's theory of liberalism emphasizes o the democracy and freedom of the own individual property, business and other things without the intervention of the government. Locke's argument is a definite theory on liberty and freedom as compared to the thinking of the other scholars, Mill and Rousseau. As noted above, John Mill uses the institution of marriage to express his thoughts on how women are discriminated using the notion that the women are naturally unequal as compared to men. However, Mill's theory is outdated as it does not go hand in hand with the recent global empowerment of women. Mill's argument equally seems to be a contrary theory as it emphasizes women discrimination, which has been addressed in today's modern world. Both philosophers have discussed the issue of liberty in different perspectives as compared above.

Works Cited

Locke, John. Of Civil Government: Second Treatise. Chicago: H. Regnery, 2015.

Locke, John. Two Treatises of Government. United States: BN Publishing, 2013

Mill, John S. Subjection of Women, the. South Bend: Infomotions, Inc, 2011

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract: And Discourses. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd, 2016