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.
There are those who think it’s about man in a state of nature, what we are capable of when society is made primal around us.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
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
And if there’s freedom, it is the false freedom of the state of nature, in which our weapons are always pointed and our eyes are fixed upon one another.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 3, 2023
In a state of nature it does not emerge from its retreat during daylight, unless urged by hunger or by the necessities of its young.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various
