Thomas Hobbes – State of nature

Perhaps Lord of The flies represents an attempt to depict such a way of being. But if people are abandoned on an Island (as in the TV series, the Island) do they in fact resort to egoism or to co-operative activity? Is our default state actually co-operation rather than egoism? In terms of a state, what happens in places such as Syria when state authority breaks down? Arguably we find ways to cooperate in order to survive – and social co-operation involves rules and some method of ensuring the rules are kept.

Does it depend on a number of factors, such as whether some sense of shared values and morality persist? On the other hand, think of periods in our own history where authority has been disputed and no-one controls the state – such as the English Civil war (1639-45) or the Wars of the Roses (in the 15th century, ending with the battle of Bosworth in 1485). Extreme violence does seem to attend these periods in our history.