In this article I argue that Thomas Hobbes’s theory of the “state of nature” should be understood as describing a thoroughly political situation. Hobbes’s exemplification of the state of nature by resorting to the “savages” of America should be taken in its ultimately paradoxical character, one that puts in question the stark opposition between a prepolitical natural state and the properly political state resulting from the “social contract.” Through the lenses of ethnographic studies and anthropological theory, I propose a reinterpretation of Hobbes’s characterization of the state of nature as a state of war. In the first section, I present my interpretation of Hobbes’s understanding of war, arguing that war is characterized not by actual battle but by the uncertainty of conflict, already entailing a social dimension to it. In the second section, I engage with Pierre Clastres’s theory of the society against the State to discuss how, for Amerindian peoples, war not only has a social character but is itself the basis of sociality. In the last section, I discuss Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s theory of potential affinity to propose that Hobbes’s state of nature is also a form of schematization of alterity as enmity. I conclude by showing how this provides an understanding of peace as a precarious situation, one that is the outcome of ethical practices ultimately independent from the State.

在这篇文章中，我认为托马斯·霍布斯的“自然状态”理论应该被理解为对政治情境的彻底描述。霍布斯通过求助于美洲的“野蛮人”来举例说明自然状态，应该从其最终的悖论特征中来看待，这一特征质疑前政治的自然国家与由“社会契约”产生的适当政治国家之间的鲜明对立。 ” 通过民族志研究和人类学理论的视角，我建议重新解释霍布斯将自然状态描述为战争状态的特征。在第一部分，我阐述了我对霍布斯对战争的理解的解读，认为战争的特征不是实际战斗，而是冲突的不确定性，已经包含了社会维度。在第二部分，我参与了皮埃尔·克拉斯特 (Pierre Clastres) 的社会反对国家理论，以讨论对于美洲印第安人来说，战争如何不仅具有社会性质，而且本身就是社会性的基础。在最后一节中，我讨论了 Eduardo Viveiros de Castro 的潜在亲和力理论，提出霍布斯的自然状态也是一种将相异性图式化为敌意的形式。最后，我展示了这如何让人们理解和平是一种不稳定的情况，这种情况是最终独立于国家的道德实践的结果。我讨论了 Eduardo Viveiros de Castro 的潜在亲和力理论，提出霍布斯的自然状态也是一种将相异性图式化为敌意的形式。最后，我展示了这如何让人们理解和平是一种不稳定的情况，这种情况是最终独立于国家的道德实践的结果。我讨论了 Eduardo Viveiros de Castro 的潜在亲和力理论，提出霍布斯的自然状态也是一种将相异性图式化为敌意的形式。最后，我展示了这如何让人们理解和平是一种不稳定的情况，这种情况是最终独立于国家的道德实践的结果。