Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes - Later Uses

Later Uses

Sometimes the phrase is used by Marx and Engels.

• In On the Jewish Question (1843-4):

Religion has become the spirit of civil society, of the sphere of egoism, of bellum omnium contra omnes.

• In Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy (1857-1858):

One could just as well deduce from this abstract phrase that each individual reciprocally blocks the assertion of the others' interests, so that, instead of a general affirmation this war of all against all produces a general negation.

The English translation eliminates the Latin phrase used in the original German.

• In a letter from Marx to Engels (18 June 1862):

It is remarkable how Darwin rediscovers, among the beasts and plants, the society of England with its division of labour, competition, opening up of new markets, 'inventions' and Malthusian 'struggle for existence'. It is Hobbes' bellum omnium contra omnes.

It was also used by Friedrich Nietzsche in On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1873):

Insofar as the individual wants to preserve himself against other individuals, in a natural state of affairs he employs the intellect mostly for simulation alone. But because man, out of need and boredom, wants to exist socially, herd-fashion, he requires a peace pact and he endeavors to banish at least the very crudest bellum omnium contra omnes from his world.