Jay-Z had explicitly mentioned Plato and the Euthyphro dilemma! That being the case, these are the two philosophical ideas I thought were relevant in this song. The state of nature, as Hobbes describes it, is a hypothetical time before moral or legal rules. In this time period there is no such thing as immorality or injustice, and everyone is equal for example those are physically stronger can be defeated by those who are smarter Given that everyone is equal, everyone is equally subjected to have their property taken, to be enslaved, killed, etc. As such, life in the state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" for everyone Since none of us want this kind of life, according to Hobbes, moral rules and/or legal rules were created
