Transformation of the State of Nature
Man is an autonomous individual in the state of nature. He legislates his own conducts and actions and is not accountable to anybody or authority. He has no responsibility and obligations to the society or aspires to the continuity of the society. This was because; there was no organized form of society where rules and regulations or conventions were guiding the actions of members of the society 1. As Hobbes rightly observed that man’s condition in the state of nature was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”2. The chief principle of human life in the state of nature is self-assertion and seeking of one’s own interest. Therefore, in this study, transformation of the state of nature is appraised under the following sub-themes: the state of nature and its features, the origin of the state (or civil society). Also, the state and the rights of individual are critically examined. The findings show that the very essence of the state is to foster man’s flourishing, and he cannot flourish in isolation but in the mutual and beneficial interaction in the society hence, the emergency of state pulled man from inextricable communion that, he will flourish by subsuming his selfactualization to societal goals and aspirations; which are observed and safeguarded for common good of all3. The state which now stands to take decisions for the people through established political machinery, now owes it as a responsibility to provide for the people basic services and protection that will enable the continued existence of the state. However, the study concludes that the grown tensions in various parts of the world are clear manifestations of the failure of states to secure lives and property; and to ensure welfare of the people which are their primary functions. Today, everywhere is possible target of terrorist attack thereby heighten the ominous signs of fear and insecurity which is hallmark of the state of nature.
Keywords: nature, state, transformation