Quentin Skinner on Hobbes on the State
Philosophy Bites
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Hobbes' Understanding of the State of Nature
In his autobiography, Hobbes says he saw civil war coming in the 1630s. He said people should understand how to produce peace instead of war. His method is recognizably central to so much liberal political philosophy ever since. The contract starts for Hobbes with people in what he calls the state of nature.
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