Hobbes’ Perspective On Justice in The State of Nature
State of War of Everybody Against Everybody
In the book “Leviathan,” Thomas Hobbes describes what he means by humans living in a state of war of everybody against everybody, where there is neither justice nor injustice. According to Hobbes, in the state of nature before the emergence of organized society and government, humans essentially live in a state of perpetual conflict and competition with one another for resources and security. With no common authority to keep people in awe and enforce rules, every individual sees every other as a potential threat.
Absence of Justice and Injustice
Hobbes argues that without an overarching power to establish order, humans are at all times in a condition of war against one another. This state of war does not just consist of actual physical battles but rather an ongoing state of tension and readiness for violence, as no one can trust that others won’t attack them given the opportunity. With no rules or justice system in place, individuals must rely solely on their strengths and abilities to defend themselves. This leaves life solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short, as everyone lives in constant fear and danger of violent death.
Event Creating Justice and Injustice
According to Hobbes, it is only with the emergence of organized society and government that concepts of justice and injustice can exist. By agreeing to abide by a standard power and body of rules, individuals find it rational to give up some freedoms in exchange for protection and order. This allows specialization, commerce, science, culture and civilization to develop. The state creates an impartial system of laws and enforcement that defines what is just and unjust. Thus, for Hobbes, justice is a human invention that arises from self-preservation once civil society is established rather than an intrinsic moral law of the state of nature. In the state of nature, without government, there is simply the antagonistic struggle of individuals against one another.