The Social Contract

who among them do think described mn in state of nature discuss

hobbs versus rousseau

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Hobbes believed the state of nature is man without laws and hence, in his view, immoral. He pioneered the idea of "state of nature" as being a world where life was "nasty, brutish and short." For him, man runs around doing whatever he wants because he does not have civilization. Rousseau took issue with this conception, suggesting that Hobbes was assuming man was naturally immoral, based on corruption and immorality he saw in the civilized world. While Rousseau also prized civilization and government over "state of nature," he suggested that these questions of morality and ethics were defined by society and hence not innate in the way Hobbes did. The question of who one thinks was correct in his conception comes down to whether you think: a) man is naturally immoral and needs civilization/government to control himself (Hobbes); or b) Morality and Ethics are a creation of society and man is not innately evil or good, but chooses to create civilization for his benefit (Rousseau).