Bellum omnium contra omnes
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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 Leviathan (1651).
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.
This Latin phrase is used by Karl Marx in On the Jewish Question when he says "It has become the spirit of civil society, of the sphere of egoism, of the bellum omnium contra omnes." The irony here is that while Hobbes argued that the social contract was a way to escape "the war of all against all", Marx turns that around and claims that civil society is no different from Hobbes's state of nature. In particular, Marx says that religion no longer unites human beings but divides them.
See also
- Social contract theories
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