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882 Patricia Purtschert, Jenseits des NaturzustandesAbstractThe state of nature is a fundamental concept of modern political philosophy. As such, it is particularlyassociated with Thomas Hobbes’ and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s work. As the following article shows,the state of nature is not simply an auxiliary construction [Hilfskonstruktion] for a theory that aimsto clarify the relation between the political order and its origins and normative principles. It is also afigure of thought that introduces colonial images into political philosophy. The following reading ofHobbes and Rousseau, which also draws on image analysis, traces how their conceptions of the state ofnature are constitutively linked to imaginations of the savage that emanate from contemporary colonialdiscourses. Moreover, by comparing the writings of Hobbes and Rousseau it becomes apparent thatthe colonial difference increasingly takes on a systematic relevance. This development further containssignificant similarities with the changing use of gender differences in political philosophy.