The state of nature is the reverse of society. When there is no civilization, the state of nature exists. The natural state of nature is one of the major focuses in philosophy related to politics and government. Philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau examined the causes of man's misery, while Thomas Hobbes explored why man has established political societies. These incongruences in the theories are reason of debate, a reason for which political philosophy is a widely discussed issue. Rousseau considers that men were happier in their natural state, owing to their minimal needs to be satisfied. On the other hand, Hobbes believed that natural state for man is miserable, fearful and nasty. This laid the foundation for his need of self-preservation. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes have theories on how the state of nature was before civilization emerged. They are theories that investigate the creation of social hierarchy, differing primarily on the morality of "natural" man; while Rousseau considers the primitive man amoral, Hobbes described him as innately greedy and evil.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes both believed that a society existed due to political regime. Without government, man is living in the state of nature. Thomas Hobbes first acknowledged this idea in his novel Leviathan written in the 1651. Written during the English Civil war, the circumstances are a probable cause for Hobbes' political notions. Hobbes considers that the state of nature is the state of war. This notion is centered on the impression that men and women gravitate towards violence. They both naturally possess selfish passions, which make them greedy for power. Natural man's life revolves around a struggle to survive, which is the reason why a man is always in risk of being slaughtered due to this competition with others to meet his needs for survival. This desire to live causes humans to be skeptical of their surroundings, making them vulnerable to create violence in order to protect their interests.