The State of Nature – A Reflection of the Image of Humanity
What remains of a human when everything surrounding them is removed? No state, no law, no property, no institution. Only the individual—and the other. This question, about what humans are “in the state of nature,” is one of the oldest and most influential constructs in political philosophy. It is not a historical hypothesis but a mirror: It reveals how a thinker perceives humanity.
Thomas Hobbes: Man is a wolf to man
For Hobbes, the state of nature is a state of terror. Everyone has a right to everything, resulting in a “war of all against all.” To escape this, individuals surrender their freedom to a sovereign. The goal is security, not freedom. The image of humanity: rational, distrustful, violent. Society arises from fear.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Man is born free
For Rousseau, the state of nature is peaceful, natural, and self-sufficient. Only property and social inequality corrupt humans. The social contract should not subjugate but create freedom in community. The image of humanity: good, compassionate, distorted by culture. Society is meant to redeem humans, not tame them.
John Locke: Freedom through contract
Locke describes the state of nature as relatively reasonable but insecure. Humans have natural rights (life, liberty, property). The state is created through a contract to secure these rights. The image of humanity: rational, self-interested, peaceful. Society is a protective space, not a space of coercion.
Karl Marx: Alienation instead of a primal state
Marx does not discuss a state of nature but rather a primal society without classes. Only through property and division of labor does alienation emerge. The goal is not a return but an overcoming: the free individual in free association. The image of humanity: active, communal, alienable.
Charles Darwin: From nature to civilization
Darwin describes nature as a realm of survival. In “savage tribes,” he observes mechanisms of selection: the weak are left behind. Yet, in civilization, compassion arises: “We civilized people build homes for the sick and the feeble-minded.” For Darwin, this is an expression of cultural advancement, not moral decline.
Conclusion: The state of nature as a construct
The state of nature is not a beginning but a counter-image. It reveals how philosophers understand humanity:
- as a threat (Hobbes)
- as potential (Rousseau)
- as a bearer of rights (Locke)
- as alienated (Marx)
- as part of evolution (Darwin)
Perspective of the project
The project asks: What sustains humans when nothing else does? The answer lies not in contracts but in trust. Not in subjugation but in encounter. Not in fear but in the joy of being human together.
The true counter-model to the state of nature is not the state but the community: a space of voluntariness, of language, of respect. A place where humans are not tamed but allowed to flourish.
Perhaps the state of nature was never real. But it helps us see what is necessary for a human world.
