Missouri in a State of Nature: The Murder of Ken McElroy and its Relation to Hobbes’ Social Contract Theory

• In Event: Standing ePanel: Political Philosophy

Brief Overview

This poster applies Thomas Hobbes’ theory of the social contract as discussed in Leviathan to the 1981 cold-case murder of “town bully” Ken McElroy. It argues that McElroy's breach of the law thrust the town briefly into a Hobbesian state of nature.

Author

• Hannah Jackson, Christopher Newport University