The Genealogy of Civil Society Theory ——From Hobbes to Marx

The Civil Society theory have experienced several important periods since from Hobbes. In the first period, there is an opposition between civil society and natural state, the second period developed around the opposition between civil society and political state. Put it definitely,John Locke try to use civil society in place of political state, but this movement was fiercely attacked by Rousseau, and then Hegel want to establish the priority of political state to civil state, while neglected the political characteristic of civil state. Karl Marx ultimately revealed the complex relation between civil society and political sate, and thus resulted to a new research field, that is the Law and Administration.