Hobbes wants to show in which conditions people will live in the absence of a certain political power to organize people with the state of nature, that is, in a situation where there is no sovereignty. According to Hobbes, the state of nature is not historical. When people are in the state of nature, they experience a constant uncertainty, conflict and violence. The state of nature is a state of war, which Hobbes has formulated as “a man is a wolf to another man”. Hobbes lists the chain of causes that creates the state of war as follows:

1. People are equal in the state of nature: The main reason causing war in the state of nature is the fact that people are equal in terms of their physical and mental abilities.
2. Inequality causes insecurity: Natural equality brings forth equality of the hope of achieving goals. Because every human being has equal chances with respect to achieving their goals, they have equal hopes. If they both want the same thing, the problem arises there.
3. The result of insecurity is war: Individuals want to rule others and to dominate them to get rid of the state of insecurity. The state of equality requires to constantly cope with dangers to survive and to dominate others.