State of Nature

The state of nature is the condition before the rule of positive law came into action thus spelling anarchy. It is found in classic republicanism evidently resulting in state of society that establishes a government. In only some social contracts, freedom is prevalent based on rights and obligations. Other social contracts have restrictions that curtail basic rights of individuals. State of nature came into light with the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes who, during the 17^th century quoted that “during the time men live without common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man”.

There is no injustice in state of nature owing to the absence of law. Every man is expected to champion peace and hope for the same. Hobbes extracts civil governments with mutual contracts from the state of nature. Another thinker, John Locke considers “The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it” that implies “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions”. This principle is deducted from the Christian belief that we are all possessions of God where we do not own ourselves. Thinkers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, David Hume and John Rawls have applied state of nature in their thinking.

The thoughts of Montesquieu prioritize possibility over actuality relative to the divine creation and thus using a polished edition of Aristotelian tradition. Rousseau argued that Hobbes isolated socialized people from the society in which they were raised. Rousseau suggests that people were neither good nor bad and had no dealings with each other. A person’s bad habits are simply products of civilization.

David Hume in his book ‘The Treatise’ neither agrees with Hobbes nor Rousseau. He says that Man cannot remain in the savage condition. The State of nature was applied by thinkers and writers who sought to associate nations and create a worldwide civil society. Many political thought experiments are based on this State of Nature. While deducing the philosophy of state of Nature, thinkers take many aspects such as environmental interactions; biology, population problems and economy of nature are taken into account. Some examinations were ecological while others were evolutionary. According to Lockes, conflicts arise because people are self interested and are partial in disputes. The state of nature could return only by complete destruction of society through foreign invasion or other catastrophes.