Chuck Kuecker wrote:
> >Thomas Hobbes' statement "Homini lupus lupi" ["Man is a wolf to man"]
>
> Isn't it 'Man is a wolf to wolves'??
Chuck,
There is some justifiable doubt about what Hobbes actually meant to say in Latin. This is the standard Latin and English expressions, but they are inconsistent. I suppose I should have used another statement he made in English: "Human life in a state of nature ["apart from or before the institution of the civil state" (my insertion-RMO)] is a war of all against all."
It was in this same discussion of the "Social Contract" that he gave the famous description of human life apart from civilization as "nasty, brutish and short". This expresses the point I wanted to emphasize, but without ambiguity.
Thank you for your reply,
Bob