ABSTRACT
Man is naturally peaceful and timid; at the least danger, his first action is to flee; he only fights through the force of habit and experience. Honour, interest, prejudices, vengeance, all those passions which make him brave danger and death, are remote from him in the state of nature. There are no strong natural dispositions to make war on all one's fellow men. War is permanent state which presupposes constant relations; and these relations are a rare occurrence between men, for between individuals there is a continual flux which constantly changes relationships and interests. If there has never been, and if it is impossible to have, a true war between individuals, between whom then does it take place, and who can really call themselves enemies? The author replies that they are public persons. Far from the state of war being natural to man, war springs from peace, or at least from precautions that men have taken to ensure lasting peace.
