Preface A true state of nature cannot be recognized by a philosophy that accommodates divine authority. Identifying a deity as the proprietor of natural law and sovereign to a person's unique property of self is to give value to an entity that is synonymous with the universe. Divinity does not exist within reality; rather, the supernatural seeks to contain reality as it evolves- like the arbitrary arrangement of letters that comprise a word attempt to contain an abstract meaning with definition. This work will investigate the ability for the static containment of universals by exploring the meanings of symbols such as language. I find it irresponsible to assign a place for faith amongst the natural laws as an original component of existing; with a skeptical approach, the original state of nature cannot be considered while theological discourse is accommodated. The assumption that principles are bestowed by God as natural is to posture the true state of nature from the onset; basing a state of nature upon an assumption of the supernatural is to found philosophies that cannot be substantiated nor sustained. Traditional philosophers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes have proposed philosophical arguments that leave room for such supernatural authority, and I contend that the presumption of divine nature invalidates any conclusions made upon those artificial premises; only an authentic state of nature- one that only acknowledges core elements of reality- may be validated and valued. I have also incorporated more contemporary philosophers such as Rawls and Nozick in this work because they have introduced innovative thought experiments from which any perspective may be imagined: Robert Nozick's "Experience Machine" and John Rawls' "The Veil of Ignorance" are tools for considering philosophy based on a true and authentic state of nature, and it will bear out that philosophy is a skeptical science at its core. Negotiations of social contracts are a major consideration in this writing; the way that entities relate and are related to one-another in the universal context is a continuous theme that resurfaces in all facets of existence- both living and nonliving. I find it irresponsible to assume consent in any contract and equate the practice to rape and slavery; for instance, at the root of faith is the assumption that a governing deity accepts the charge to govern, and assumptions of power given or received through coercion or confiscation are not social contracts made on the basis of equality. Equality is the primary motivation for this work. The original and true state of nature affords each existent being a unique capacity that is acknowledged as an autonomous function: the soul, the self, or the mind. Humanity is an interactive species, and its moral premises respond to the relationships social contracts are forged from. There are basic principles to how beings relate naturally, and so morality is a consideration for the autonomous being as it exists amongst others, and those relationships are substantiated by the natural laws which make no accommodations for attractive or moral results; as a science, the skeptical philosophy of a true state of nature must remain as neutral as mathematical functions in order to responsibly construct an ethic that is worthwhile. I have made every effort to avert coercion and acquiescence that might discredit or corrupt the philosophy I present; only from a vantage of neutrality can the balance of nature and nurture be reconciled.