Everything in nature is subject to laws. (Otherwise it couldn't have lasted or produced what nature has produced.) The laws of mankind or those needed to achieve a pre-law conception of justice. But the nature of man also has freedom-- that's why it's complicated.
In a primal state, man would be weak, and impotent, and aware of his surroundings, and wary of his powerlessness-- not wanting to confront his neighbors. Therefore, the initial state of man is (contra Hobbes) peaceful. Then, seeing peaceable neighbors, having a natural affinity for company, and natural attraction to the opposite sex, society would start to develop. Having grown strong through society, only then will a state of war emerge, and societal law be necessary. Two types of law: political law, governing relations between man and governing class; and civil law, governing relations between men.
The exact structure and system of laws will come from each society's environment, inclinations, the precise form of their pre-existing relations, etc.
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The description of primal society is similar to what Paine used in his description. I have a feeling both are borrowing from a still-prior source-- possibly all the way back to Aristotle.
Speaking of Aristotle, I think Montesquieu's metaphysics is Aristotilean. Being pre-Darwin, a lot of the stuff he takes for granted falls differently on our ears-- but none of it can be called wrong yet, I think.
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