States of Nature in Literature and Philosophy

The state of nature, a hypothetical condition of human existence before the establishment of societies, is a device many early modern thinkers use to address questions about ethics, justice, and politics. Fusing biblical narrative and geometric reasoning, accounts of the state of nature illustrate the overlap and tension between religion, science and philosophy. Questions include whether philosophers and artists actually believe in the state of nature, how it was imagined differently in poetry, the novel, and philosophy, whether it was used to legitimize or undermine existing political structures, and why it is relevant in today's society. Selected readings from Hobbes, Locke, Milton, Defoe, Montaigne, Montesquieu, Diderot.