If I could have dinner with any philosopher, I would chose Thomas Hobbes because of his ideas about the human state of nature. Thomas Hobbes’s conception of human nature is best defined in Leviathan (1651) by the Latin phrase, “Bellum omnium contra omnes,” meaning, “a state of war in which everyone is against everyone.” This state of war justifies the existence of a kingdom nation, a state, and Hobbes goes about describing this state in Leviathan (1651).
I became enthralled with Hobbes’s conception of the true state of human nature when I was in college. In reality, it comes from one line from the first part of Hobbes’s Leviathan. In college, I used this argument to describe people’s behavior in America today by comparing the violence rates of lower income neighborhoods to the violence rates of all neighborhoods in America. The violence rate being higher in lower income areas provides a robust argument for Hobbes’s state of human nature.
If you could have dinner with any philosopher, who would it be? Why? Comment to let me know!
Things We Forget 
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