The state of nature and the emergence of the human ability to reason has been a common interest for writers throughout history. John Stuart Mill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke all address these issues in their works, “On Liberty,” “Discourse on the Origins of Inequality,” and “Second Treatise on Government,” respectively. The authors agree that the state of nature is the era before civilization and government, they all differ in their ideas about the importance of reason in the state of nature, while Mills and Locke take a positive view of the role of reason in society , Rousseau believes is the basis of the corruption of morality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, he states that the "natural" "The human ability to reason depends on debate with those who hold opposing ideas. According to Mill, the purpose of debate is not to persuade the other side to convert one's way of thinking, but rather justify one's opinions by refuting the opposition. Only through this process can someone truly understand and construct an opinion throughout. Mill continually affirms the importance of the individual individual is free to form their own opinions about life; however, Mill believes that it is necessary to understand the other party's arguments to truly understand one's opinion. By using reason to establish one's opinion and refute another's ideas, one effectively uses reason its "natural" human ability to reason to form an educated opinion. Without considering alternative opinions on a position, the meaning is insufficient to justify one's statement. Mill points out that one should not believe anything unless one can justify the reasons why the opinion is correct. To understand the truth it is necessary to use reason to refute all alternative possibilities. If an opinion is not discussed thoroughly, its meaning is lost. While Mill takes a positive view of reason, Rousseau's statement about reason is negative. He believes that reason is responsible for many of the problems plaguing civil society. In the Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts and on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau describes the fall of man from the state of nature. He describes this state as the condition of man before the development of society and reason. All human beings are naturally good and compassionate; therefore, in the state of nature, there is no need for morality or reason. People will do the right thing out of compassion. As reason develops, man becomes corrupted and experiences a fall from his initial position. Man's compassion ultimately evolves into competition, leaving morality out of the equation. Institutions of reason, such as education, are responsible for this need to distinguish oneself from others. The need to be better than others ultimately becomes the motive for one's actions, rather than compassion. This demoralization of humanity is a step that Rousseau does not believe can be reversed. Reason has been corrupted and used for the benefit of self-interest; therefore, its institutions, such as education, cannot be used to return humans to their natural state. Locke believes that reason is the force that governs the state of nature, which is expressly different from the view of Rousseau, who believes that compassion is the dominant force in the state of nature and reason is what brought men outside the state of nature. Like Mill, Locke takes a positive look at the natural.