state of nature
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even as he appealed to the state of nature, though, Rousseau questioned whether it could ever be recovered.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
For Hobbes, the state of nature was so violent and chaotic that rational individuals would readily consent to the authority of an absolute monarch to establish law and order.
From Slate • May 9, 2024
Tony Goldner, executive director of the TNFD, said that while the risks of climate change have long been a focus of many companies, the wider state of nature is beginning to be looked at.
From Reuters • Sep. 18, 2023
In the purported "state of nature," Locke contends, everyone enjoyed limitless natural rights, but none of them was secure.
From Salon • Sep. 17, 2023
But now comes man and overthrows this state of nature, abolishes the competitive struggle, and changes at his own insolent will both his environment and his reaction thereto.
From The Book of Life by Sinclair, Upton
