Explain why, according to Hobbes, the state of nature will be a state of war.

Thomas Hobbes believed that the state of nature would ultimately be driven by the human 'right' (in the absence of authority) to self-preservation/survival. He believed that we, as humans, desire power to obtain what we want - more accurately, to posses the 'means' to get what we want in the future, because in order to get what we want in the first place requires possessing the means to do so. For example, through making others like us or be intimidated by us, we can get what we want.

Hobbes believed that our desires as humans are never-ending - once we fulfil one desire, we are instantly trying to fulfil the next i.e. we will try to satisfy our desires for now, as well as the future. The vulnerability of humans is also a factor as other people can cause us to fail to achieve the power we need to satisfy our desires. Furthermore, Hobbes said that there is a scarcity of goods, meaning that not everyone can get everything that they want, especially when that includes power to get things in the future. This will create war among humans with the right to survive as their desires and needs will conflict with others' desires and needs.

Hobbes believed that these factors create a vicious cycle of human desire to get what we want and perpetual fear of losing what we have gained. Even those who may not want to resort to violence have more reason to become violent if their survival, desires or possessions are being jeopardised. This will essentially create a society driven by the 'survival of the fittest', whereby each individual has the best chance of self-preservation through the most effective means of obtaining power, the most extreme method being through violence or killing. Hobbes believed that in order to get what we need in the future, we will fight for security. He also said that humans would fight for 'glory' (the reputation of being powerful) - perhaps simply for enjoyment of power, or because having power itself is tactical in gaining more power itself as people tend to be more compliant towards those with power.