![]() ![]() And covenants without the sword are merely words, with no strength to secure a man at all. In the absence of such a power, our natural passions carry us to partiality, pride, revenge, and the like. of getting themselves out of the miserable condition of war which (as I have shown) necessarily flows from the natural passions of men when there is no visible power to keep them in awe and tie them by fear of punishment to keep their covenants and to obey the laws of nature set down in my chapters 14 and 15.įor the laws of nature-enjoining justice, fairness, modesty, mercy, and (in short) treating others as we want them to treat us-are in themselves contrary to our natural passions, unless some power frightens us into observing them. Men naturally love liberty, and dominion over others so what is the final cause or end or design they have in mind when they introduce the restraint upon themselves under which we see them live in commonwealths? It is the prospect of their own preservation and, through that, of a more contented life i.e. The causes, creation, and definition of a commonwealth ![]()
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