My (Burr Cook) ancestors, the Gates family, a large number of which are buried at Hopewell, were early settlers in the area, coming from Keene NH. Route 20, passing through the middle of the township, was at that time a log road and the first toll turnpike in the state long before the thruway was thought of.
State of Nature. State of nature refers to a condition in which there is no established political authority. It is essentially a state of complete freedom. Political theorists have used it to better understand human nature and, typically, to justify the rationality of a particular type of government.
However, modeling Hobbesâs state of nature in this way has the problem of misrepresenting what Hobbes deems to be the major cause of conflict in the state of nature. It is true that Hobbes thinks that everybody in the state of nature has a tendency to initiate a preemptive attack and start a war of all against all.