TWO VIEWS ON THE STATE OF NATURE What would life and human relations be like in the absence of government? Political and social theorist Thomas Hobbes was the first to attempt to illustrate this condition using an intellectual device - a "thought experiment", known as the "State of Nature". The following quote, taken from Hobbes' book Leviathan offers this disturbing account: In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is …showed first 75 words of 1852 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1852 total…in society. The extent to which this was true varies but the one important fact remains - people existed as individuals before societies and governments came into being. They each possessed certain rights, and all had the freedom to do as they pleased, unrestrained according to Hobbes, and with some restrictions placed upon them by God, according to Locke. This freedom of the individual was important, for it was the foundation for modern liberal democracy.