Drawing on game theory, evolutionary biology, neurochemistry, and dynamical systems, this book demonstrates that cooperation—not conflict—is humanity’s natural state. It is the attractor toward which every human society gravitates when left alone. The war of all against all is not the disease; it is the side effect of the supposed cure. The Leviathan does not prevent chaos. It creates it—by suppressing the neurochemical rewards of voluntary cooperation, by selecting for leaders with impaired empathy, and by convincing us that without chains, we would devour each other.