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How did Thomas Hobbes describe the state of nature?

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Painting by Rembrandt showing Aristotle in rich dark clothing with a gold chain, resting his hand thoughtfully on a marble bust of Homer, illuminated against a dark background. — natural law *Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer*, oil on canvas by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1653; in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

For Thomas Hobbes, the state of nature is a hypothetical condition of humanity existing without political association or a common authority to adjudicate disputes. In this state, individuals are driven by self-interest and a natural right to everything, leading to a constant, violent condition of competition for wealth, security, and glory.123

Hobbes famously characterized this existence as a "war of every man against every man," where the absence of a sovereign means there is no industry, commerce, or culture. Because individuals cannot rely on natural self-restraint, they live in perpetual fear and mistrust of one another. Consequently, Hobbes described human life in this state as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short".241

This unsustainable anarchy can only be resolved through a social contract, where individuals rationally agree to relinquish their natural rights and transfer their self-sovereignty to a sovereign—or Leviathan—in exchange for physical safety and the establishment of peace.123