Philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke came up with a theory of 'state of nature', in which the absence of political authority would lead to a "war of every man against every man", and in which life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". This is due to their view of human nature as selfish, greedy and potentially aggressive (i.e. Conservatism). They believed that only a sovereign state could maintain order.
William Godwin (arguably the first anarchist) suggested the opposite. He believed that:
- Humans are essentially rational creatures, who can, through education, truth and enlightened judgement, live by universal moral laws
- Humans have a natural tendency to organise themselves peacefully and harmoniously
- Governments and 'unnatural laws' are the corrupting influence that leads to injustice and greed, rather than any 'original sin' within us; Government is therefore the cause, not the solution
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains"
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