st comprehensive sense; liberty of thought and feeling; absolute freedom of opinion and sentiment on all subjects, practical or speculative, scientific, moral, or theological." (Ebenstein 532) The second sphere of Mill's definition encompasses the general freedoms which allow an individual to freely peruse a "...life to suit our own character; of doing as we like..." (Ebenstein 533) Mill also states that these freedoms must not be interfered with by "fellow creatures, so long as what we do does not harm them..." (Ebenstein 533), The final sphere of Mill's definition of liberty is a combination of the first two. He states that "...the freedom to unite, for any purpose not involving harm to others: the persons combining being supposed to be of full age, and not forced and or deceived." (Ebenstein 535) Rousseau thought that man was born weak and ignorant, but virtuous. It is only when man became sociable that they became wicked. (Cress, 80) Since civil society makes men corrupt, Rousseau advocated “general will”, more precisely the combined wills of each person, to decide public affairs. General will would become the sovereign and thus it would be impossible for its interests to conflict with the priorities of the citizens, since this would be doing harm to itself. Virtue came from the freedom of men to make decisions for the good of the community. The general will meant giving up individual rights for the betterment of the collective group. Therefore civil liberties were an oxymoron, since civilized society needed laws and rules to function, while liberty was the freedom to act as one pleased. It is therefore impossible to reconcile the natural man with the citizen. So it was responsibility of the government to attain freedom, equality, and justice for all its citizens.Since the definitions they present in their respective literature are distinct from one another, when each philosopher refers to freedom or liberty they are...
