into the hands of society." (Locke 73) In Locke's ideal society this fails to limit or remove any freedom from the individual, it only removes the responsibility of protecting these freedoms from the individual and places it on the state. John Stuart Mill believes that man's should be strictly limited in political society. Mill differs from Locke in the basic principle that individual who enjoy the benefits of living in political societies owe a return for the protection society offers. Mill believes for society to function properly conduct of societies members should "not injuring the interests of one another; or rather certain interests; which either by express legal provision, or by tacit understanding, ought to be considered rights" (Mill 70) Mill furthers this statement by proclaiming that society may go even further. "As soon as any part of a person's conduct affects prejudicial the interests of others, society has jurisdiction over it, and the general question whether the general welfare will or will not be promoted by interfering in it, becomes open to discussion." (Mill 70) This declaration virtually allows the state the authority to intervene in every instance of human interaction and have total power to alter the exchange as it sees fit. If this function of the state is considered supreme or is allowed jurisdiction over even the first sphere of freedoms any further discussion of liberty is ineffective and redundant. Mill clearly seeks to limit the freedom of men and guaranteeing some measure of residual power to exercised by the state at will. Having examined the level or amount of freedom Locke and Mill advocate for man in political society a closer examination of the rational or reasoning which Locke and Mill used to develop their position will clarify the issue further. How Locke and Mill viewed man and his natu...
