Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Stuart Mill's liberty problem

Freedom has always been an important notion in the history of humanity. It has come into question with the growing emphasis of the different dimensions of individualism from the beginning of the community life. For centuries, humans had killed and been killed for freedom. Therefore, thinking on this notion and finding solutions became a natural mission of philosophy. Life conditions and changes have proved that this notion will be center of discussion in philosophy in the future. Rousseau and Mill are particularly important philosophers, studying on this notion. According to them, freedom is also the most spectacular characteristic of the humanity.From the point of view of Rousseau, freedom is a natural characteristic of humanity and the changes in the science and art deviates humans form their natural and free form. Furthermore, these changes caused the artificial characteristics of humans and humans became bilateral and liar. However the effect of conjecture of Rousseau life on these thoughts should not be neglected. The swash humans faced in this era shaped his thoughts.Private property is another notions criticized by Rousseau. Private property has become another factor that increases the distance between humans. Individuals tried to gain control on ach other by using their financial status. As a result of this, it became impossible for human to return to their natural and pure form. In order to prevent this, Rousseau proposes a global agreement among humans to distribute rights evenly. With this agreement, rights and liabilities are arranged, harmony and regulation are achieved.While Mill was assessing freedom, shed light on the problems of his era. In this era, where the radical changes and revolutions happened, freedom was one of the most important notions. But according to the changes in the conditions, it was assessed from different perspectives. Minor progress in the personal rights and right of thought and discussion were observed.According to Mill, freedom of thought rescues the society from mistakes. When individual thoughts are declared freely, wrong beliefs are realized and truths are strengthened. Restrictions and hindrances on the thoughts are the most powerful pressure in the society. On the other hand, even thought individual should live in freedom, society life should not be neglected and individuals should respect to each other. In this relationship, rights and freedom are not unlimited. As a result, Mill proposes a limited freedom and mutual respect.While Mill was arguing freedom, he did not discriminate between male and female. On the contrary of the popular thoughts of his era, he proposes the participation of women in the society life. These show that Mill thought equality in some other issues besides the general freedom.Two above-mentioned philosophers, who lived in different eras in different conditions, are important figures in the history of philosophy in terms of their emphasis on freedom. Thoughts of both of them shed light their era and are still counted as the primary resources of researches.