Leviathan

In the previous chapters, Hobbes has laid out a general case for how humans come to live in society, namely, that they are driven to it by fear. In order to have a more thorough picture of how society comes about, Hobbes directs his attention to human nature, so that we can precisely understand how humans go from this state of nature to society. As has already been noted, people are constantly moved by appetites and aversions, and as such, have certain ends in mind which they strive to attain. Since one or more men may desire the same end (for example, food or shelter), they are in a constant state of conflict and competition with one another. If man's appetites were finite this would not be so problematic, but as Hobbes argued in the above chapters, we are never satisfied with any amount of power (the means to attain certain ends), and are thus always in a constant power struggle with others.

While it may seem that in such a state of nature the strong would naturally triumph over the weak and some sort of natural equilibrium would be reached, due to the peculiar nature of power this can never be so. Men are by nature equal in their powers, as even "the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination, or by confederacy with others, that are in the same danger as himself." From this equality in the state of nature where even the weak can kill the strong, combined with a finite amount of resources and distrust of other men, arises a perpetual state of conflict. Without a common power to mediate amongst men and distribute resources, the state of nature is nothing but a state of constant war, where "the life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Some people might object to Hobbes' rather pessimistic view of human nature, but he urges the reader to look at experience and judge whether he is correct. After all, he reasons, you lock your doors when you are away from home, and carry arms to defend yourself when you are traveling. Doesn't that reveal that humans by nature are distrustful of one another and constantly competing with each other for desired ends? One might also object that Hobbes' state of nature never existed. Here Hobbes admits that while such a period of time may never have occurred and is merely hypothetical, we can see evidence of this during times of civil war, and even when we look at the way of life of the "savages" in the Americas. Whether this state of nature actually existed is inconsequential, since Hobbes' argument here is psychological rather than historical. Again, Hobbes believes his argument can be validated recursively, so we should wait and see if what he derives from this theory of human nature is valid.

Hobbes' state of nature is purely descriptive rather than normative, that is to say, he does not believe there is anything necessarily wrong with the passions and desires that propel us towards war with one another. In fact, in a state of nature where there is no common power, "nothing can be Unjust. The notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice have there no place. Where there is no common Power, there is no Law; where no Law, no injustice." As Hobbes' stated before in his initial treatment of the passions, what inclines us toward peace is a general fear of death. The terms of peace that men come into agreement upon, which are dictated to us by reason, are called the Laws of Nature.

To understand the Laws of Nature one must first understand the fundamental right of nature these are based upon. The right of nature is the liberty each person has to do anything within their means for self-preservation. Correspondingly, a law of nature is a rule, discovered by reason that forbids one to anything to hurt oneself, or to take away the means of self-preservation. Through reasoning that in the state of nature we are at war due to our quest for self-preservation, we discover the first fundamental law of nature, that man should "seek Peace, and follow it." The second fundamental law of nature derives from this first one, and states that we should lay down this absolute right of nature "and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself." In other words, we should restrain ourselves from pursuing ends by any means necessary, insofar as other people agree to do the same.

In observing this second law of nature, humans "lay down" their right of nature. This can either be done by simply renouncing it - stating, 'I no longer have the right to do whatever it takes to stay alive regardless of who benefits from this action' - or by transferring it: placing this right in someone else's hands for some specific benefit. Merely renouncing the right to nature is a violation of the first law of nature, since you give up the right to defend yourself