War of Everybody Against Everybody By way of precaution, people will try to
safeguard their positions by means of double-crossing until there is nobody left who
might constitute a danger. According to Hobbes, this is allowed in the state of
nature because it is necessary for everybody’s survival. The result of this all,
however, is a war of everybody against everybody else. This war consists not
only of actual fights but in particular also of the preparation for possible fights, a
kind of cold war. While such a war continues, there are no good opportunities to
develop agriculture, industry, or trade. Combined with the continuous fear for
actual fights, this makes life disagreeable. In the famous words of Hobbes: “(...)
the life of man [is] solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.”
14.6.2 The Laws of Nature
The state of nature is disagreeable, but his feelings and his reason make it possible
for a human being to escape from it. Fear of death, the desire for a pleasant life, and
the hope to achieve such a life through his diligence make that man inclined to
strive for peace. His reason tells him under which conditions peace can be achieved.
Hobbes calls these conditions thelaws of nature.
The First Law of Nature The first and fundamental law of nature that Hobbes
mentions is that everybody should strive for peace as long as he has hope to achieve
it but that he should fall back on all the advantages of the state of nature if peace
turns out to be unattainable.
The Second Law of Nature From this first law follows a second. Everybody
should be prepared to give up all his rights and to be content with as many rights
against others as he allows others to have against him, to the extent that this is
required for peace and self-conservation, on the condition that the other persons are
prepared to do the same.
14.6.3 The State
14.6.3.1 Contracts
Uncertain Performance A renunciation of rights as recommended by the second
law of nature is a kind of contract. In the state of nature, contracts are problematic,
however. In many contracts, parties promise to do something in the future. One of
the parties must perform as the first one and then has to wait for the other party to
perform. Performance is very uncertain, however, because in the state of nature
there is nobody to enforce the contract. In the state of nature, everybody is entitled
to do anything, including nonperformance of made agreements. Therefore, it is very
332 J. Hage