state of nature
A concept developed by various European political
thinkers (Thomas HOBBES, John LOCKE, Jean-Jacques
ROUSSEAU) in the 17th and 18th centuries that portrays
a pregovernment human society or “natural state” of
humankind. It is another way to defining HUMAN
NATURE, by saying what the earliest human society
looked like before government, LAW S, and other social
institutions existed. By defining the human in a “state
of nature,” these SOCIAL-CONTRACTthinkers formulated
what people were originally like and what kind of state
they developed and thereby define what a LEGITIMATE
or proper government is, what its purposes and duties
are, and how citizens are to relate to it.
In Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan,the state of nature is
filled with separate, selfish individuals who are led by
their private senses and desires to take whatever they
want. In such a “natural” state, Hobbes’s scientific,
behaviorist approach sees humans as having RIGHTSto
everything and total LIBERTYto do what they want
(even kill each other). This leads to a society of fierce
competition, VIOLENCE, and insecurity. So human rea-
son, which calculates individual interest, leads these
people to make a social contract to give up their
POWER, rights, and liberty (to the state) to secure
peace. Therefore, Hobbes’s total freedom in the state of
nature leads to an ABSOLUTISTgovernment with tremen-
dous authority to control individuals and regulate
society.
John Locke conceives of the state of nature as a
more orderly, peaceful society in which most people
are rational and orderly, respecting the NATURAL RIGHTS
of others (to “Life, Liberty, and Property”) and pursu-
ing their self-interest peacefully. If all humans had rea-
son (or the law of nature) and self-control, no
government would ever be needed. But Locke says that
some people invade the rights of others (killing, steal-
ing, kidnapping) and that it is inconvenient for victims
to catch and punish those offenders, so the “good”
people form a state to defend their rights and enforce
the law.
Jean-Jacque Rousseau conceives of the state of
nature in more still positive ways as a society of inno-
cent, childlike creatures living in peace and harmony.
Advanced civil society corrupts this ROMANTICscene,
requiring a political REPUBLIC to restore justice and
right.
More recent uses of the state-of-natural theme
occur in John RAWLS’s “original position” in his book A
Theory of Justiceand in Robert NOZICK’s argument for
LIBERTARIANsociety in Anarchy, State and Utopia.
Most political theorists do not think that the state
of nature ever actually existed in the world. Political
communities historically developed (as described by
ARISTOTLE) through family, tribe, and villages, but the
state-of-nature concept helped to formulate the origins
of MODERNliberal government, INDIVIDUALISM, CAPITAL-
ISM, natural rights, and private property.states rights
A doctrine or political stance in American history that
places primary SOVEREIGNTYin the United States gov-
ernment in the individual states (Virginia, Massachu-
setts, North Carolina, etc.). Beginning with the
ANTIFEDERALISTS, states-rights thinkers (such as Patrick
HENRY, Thomas JEFFERSON) believed that the national
(or federal) government derived its authority from the
states that compacted to form the U.S. CONSTITUTIONin- According to this view, the central government
could not impose any laws on the states that individ-
ual state governments did not approve, John C. CAL-
HOUNand his theory that states could “nullify” federal
laws that were displeasing to them expressed the
extreme view of this states-rights doctrine. James MADI-
SONexpressed it in his Virginia resolutions that criti-
cized the Alien and Sedition Acts of President John
ADAMS’s administration. Eventually, states-rights princi-
ples led to the American Civil War, as Southern states
seceded from the Union to establish a confederacy
based on states-rights principles. In the 20th century,
states-rights attitudes were again expressed against the
increasing federal-government power of the NEW DEAL.
Drawn from ideas in CLASSICAL REPUBLICANISMthat
encourage decentralized, small-scale DEMOCRACY,
states-rights IDEOLOGYreflects sentiments that govern-
ment closer to the people is more responsive and less
corrupt.
Strauss, Leo (1899–1973) German-born U.S.
philosopher
Generally regarded as one of the most important CON-
SERVATIVEpolitical thinkers of the 20th century, Strauss
was born in Kirchhain, Germany. After serving briefly
in the German army, Strauss studied at the universities
of Marburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Hamburg, where heStrauss, Leo 285