In Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, theory of the state of nature serves as a justification, legitimizing and arguing for the authority of the state, by providing the logic behind sovereignty. The theory illustrates the point that without government, man is in, Hobbes believes, an awful state of nature, where peace, order and liberty are impossible. It is difficult to interpret, however, exactly whether Hobbes' posits a pessimistic or optimistic view of human nature. To understand this …
showed first 75 words of 1824 total

showed last 75 words of 1824 total
…that allowed us to establish civilised systems of government across the world. The fact that many people in the system causes it to 'malfunction' by crime and terrorism does not necessarily provide a bleak outlook. We do not live in a state of nature, thus our systems, although they might have problems, obviously work, suggesting that Hobbes' ideas on human nature were not completely pessimistic, and this is because humans possess the faculty of reason.