现代自由思想的三座丰碑

为了消除对自由理解的混乱,分析了洛克、卢梭和密尔3位思想家的自由思想。分析认为:洛克认为一切人生而自由,包括对自己人身、行动和财产的支配权,政府的权力是有限的且必须得到人民的授权; 卢梭坚信自由平等是人类的本性,唯有当一个共和国保留了这样的人性,才可以被称为是合法的,他主张主权在民,实现这一目标的途径是尊重契约和立法精神,所有人都应当服从普遍意志,政府不得违背公意和法律; 密尔相信社会不断进步,平等的趋势不可逆转,自由是文明进步的必要条件,因为自由能催生出独立的个体、负责的政府和新的观念,他主张遏制多数人的暴力,对损害他人自由行动的行为加以限制并建立代议制政府。

Three monuments of modern ideas of liberty

To eliminate the possible misunderstanding of liberty, this paper mainly analyzes the ideas of liberty of Locke, Rousseau and Mill. Locke claims that every person is born free and entitled with the rights to control their own bodies, actions and properties and the power of government is limited and has to be authorized by the people. Rousseau firmly believes that to pursue the liberty and equality is the human nature and the government is legal only when the republic is developed with humanity. Consequently, he advocates that the sovereign belongs to the people. In order to achieve the goal, the respect for the contract and legislative spirit are supposed to be advocated. Namely, everyone should comply with the general will, and the government has to obey the general will and the law. Mill believes that the soci- ety is going to move forward and the trend of equality is irreversible. Furthermore, freedom is the essen- tial factor for social civilization because freedom will create the individuals with independent spirit and the government with responsibility and new thoughts comes from freedom. Mill aims to curb the violence of the majority and limit the behaviors that may hinder the freedom of the others and finally establish a representative government.