Locke And Rousseau's Concept Of Freedom

John Locke is the forefather of the doctrine of western liberalism . His theory of liberty is embodied in his thought of Natural Law, Natural Right and Social Contract. Jean -Jacques Rousseau is a French thinker in the eighteenth century. He loves liberty ardently and hates enslavement bitterly in his life . His thoughts on liberty are abundant. In the first part of the thesis, the author expounds on Locke's and Rousseau's theories of liberty separately and historically, then excavates their thoughts on liberty from their theories of Natural Law, Natural Right, Social Contract.In the second part, the thesis makes a compare between Locke' s theory on liberty and Rousseau's systematically. It contains three sections. The first section is about the legalizing foundation of liberty--Natural Freedom . The common point of them is that they both provide legalizing foundation for their theory on liberty from the angle of Natural Freedom which human beings enjoy in Natural Rights. The differences are: ( i )Locke connects Natural Freedom with rational Natural Law, and then comprehends liberty from it; However, Rousseau relates Natural Freedom to Natural Law which human beings possess self - love and pity, and points out men have moral sense naturally. ( ii ) Locke connects Right of Freedom with Property, and holds the latter is important indemnification of realization of the former; While Rousseau relates Right of Freedom to Equal Right, and believes that the latter is the premise and base of realization of the former. The second section is the institutional indemnification of liberty--Political Liberty. Both ofthem try to provide rightful institutional indemnification for their theory on liberty in the course of solving the problem of legality of political power through adopting the theory of Social Contract. The differences are: ( i )They holds that it is different for people to transfer the possession of rights more or less, so they entrust the state with different functions: Locke thinks that men only transfer the possession of partial rights to the state, and the state must not infringe upon individual elementary rights, the state, as a certain of necessary "evil", only bears worldly affairs; but Rousseau thinks that men transfer all rights to the state, and the state embodies men' s general wills and represents men' s common interests, so its power is limitless. The state burdens not only worldly affairs but also the tasks of the moral inculcation. ( ii )The disposition of institution is different. Locke has no confidence in humanity and the state strongly, he thinks that men tent to abuse power extremely, in order to prevent the state from abusing its power, power must be restricted by power itself from the inner. Thus Locke advances the theory of decentralization and the democracy of representative system; While Rousseau holds that the power of the state can not be transferred, or cut apart, or represented, because it reflects men's general wills and represents people's common interests, so he combats the theory of decentralization and the democracy of representative system, and favors direct democracy system. ( iii )constructive methods of logic are different. Locke adopts English traditional empirical - ration and designs political institution on the base of history and experience; but Rousseau follows French traditional priori ration, he tries to cut off history and experience, and rebuilds an ideal state on the new base, he wants to achieve a "supreme good" kingdom of mankind. The third section is the legal protection of liberty--legal liberty. Locke and Rousseau both holds that liberty is a kind of lib-erty within law. The purpose that law limits liberty is to protect and enlarge liberty. The differences are that Locke thinks the law restrains individual external behavior only; While Rousseau holds that the law limits not only individual external behavior but also individual internal moral conscience, thus he puts forward the conception of moral law.In the third part, the thesis dis...