776- Are the state of nature and natural law the same thing?
“No, the state of nature is the primitive state. Civilization is incompatible with the state of nature, whereas natural law contributes to the progress of humankind.”
The state of nature represents the infancy of humankind and the departure point for their intellectual and moral development. Being perfectible and containing the seed of their own improvement within themselves, human beings are not meant to live forever in the state of nature, just as they are not meant to live forever in infancy. The state of nature is transitory, and humans leave it behind through progress and civilization. Natural law, on the other hand, rules humankind as a whole, and people improve to the degree that they comprehend and practice this law in a better manner.
777- Since there are fewer needs in the state of nature, human beings do not suffer all the tribulations they create for themselves in a more advanced state. What is to be thought of the opinion of those who regard the state of nature as the state of perfect earthly happiness?
“What do you expect? That sort of happiness is the ignorant happiness of the brute; there are humans who understand no other. It is being happy in the same sort of way as are the animals. Children, too, are happier than when they become adults.”
778- Could humankind regress back to the state of nature?
“No, humankind must progress without ceasing and it cannot return to the state of infancy. It progresses because God has willed it. Believing that it could regress back to its primitive condition would be denying the law of progress.”
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