Bellum omnium contra omnes
Bellum omnium contra omnes, a Latin phrase meaning "the war of all against all," is the description that Thomas Hobbes gives to human existence in the state of nature thought experiment that he conducts in De Cive (1642) and Leviathan (1651). The common modern English usage is a war of "each against all" where war is not commonly present.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Hobbes' use
In Leviathan itself,[2] Hobbes speaks of 'warre of every one against every one',[3] of 'a war [...] of every man against every man'[4] and of 'a perpetuall warre of every man against his neighbour',[2][5] but the Latin phrase occurs in De Cive:[2][6]
Ostendo primo conditionem hominum extra societatem civilem (quam conditionem appellare liceat statum naturae) aliam non esse quam bellum omnium contra omnes; atque in eo bello jus esse omnibus in omnia.
"I show in the first place that the state of men without civil society (which state may be called the state of nature) is none other than a war of all against all; and that in that war, all have a right to all things."
Later on, a slightly modified version is presented in Libertas (liberty):[2][7]
[...] Status hominum naturalis antequam in societatem coiretur Bellum fuerit; neque hoc simpliciter, sed bellum omnium in omnes.
"The natural state of men, before they were joined in society, was a war, and not simply, but a war of all against all."
The thought experiment places people in a pre-social condition, and theorizes what would happen in such a condition. According to Hobbes, the outcome is that people choose to enter a social contract, giving up some of their liberties in order to enjoy peace. This thought experiment is a test for the legitimation of a state in fulfilling its role as "sovereign" to guarantee social order, and for comparing different types of states on that basis.
Hobbes distinguishes between war and battle: war does not only consist of actual battle; it points to the situation in which one knows there is a 'will to contend by battle'.[8]
[edit] Later uses
The phrase is used by Karl Marx in On the Jewish Question (1843-4) when he says:
Religion has become the spirit of civil society, of the sphere of egoism, of bellum omnium contra omnes.[9]
It was also used by Friedrich Nietzsche in On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1873):
Insofar as the individual wants to preserve himself against other individuals, in a natural state of affairs he employs the intellect mostly for simulation alone. But because man, out of need and boredom, wants to exist socially, herd-fashion, he requires a peace pact and he endeavors to banish at least the very crudest bellum omnium contra omnes from his world.[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ As in the essay by Charles Fourier of the same name edited by Upton Sinclair.
- ^ a b c d Hobbes, Thomas (2005). Klenner, Hermann. ed. Leviathan. Meiner Verlag. p. 384. ISBN 978-37-87316-99-1. http://books.google.it/books?id=KJJ1HkxT_hoC&hl=en. Retrieved 13 February 2012. P. 610 on Google Books.
- ^ Chapter 14.
- ^ Chapters 13-14.
- ^ Chapter 24.
- ^ Praefatio (preface), section 14.
- ^ Chapter 1, section 12.
- ^ Leviathan, chapter 13.
- ^ marxists.org/archive/marx/works. "On The Jewish Question - Works of Karl Marx 1844". http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uzuV6LQ19cMJ:www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/jewish-question/+%22Karl+Marx%22+%22On+the+Jewish+Question%22+%22Religion+has+become+the+spirit+of+civil+society,+of+the+sphere+of+egoism,+of+bellum+omnium+contra+omnes.%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=en. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
- ^ Walter Kaufmann's translation in The portable Nietzsche. Chatto & Windus. 1971. p. 692. ISBN 978-07-01116-01-9. http://books.google.it/books?id=wY0gAQAAMAAJ&hl=en. Retrieved 13 February 2012. P. 44 on Google Books.
