Final answer:
Thomas Hobbes referred to the pre-governmental existence as the 'state of nature,' a realm of conflict and perpetual war leading to a 'nasty, brutish, and short' life, which humans seek to escape by forming a social contract and submitting to an absolute sovereign.
Step-by-step explanation:
The state of human existence prior to the existence of government that Thomas Hobbes called is known as the 'state of nature'. In this primitive condition, without the presence of a governing authority, Hobbes argued that human life would be characterized by a continuous state of war, where individuals act purely out of self-interest and the quest for survival. The state of nature is portrayed as a dire scenario of human existence, leading to a life that is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' Acknowledging the inherent dangers of this state, men would eventually seek to escape it through forming a social contract, transferring their natural rights to an absolute sovereign in exchange for order and security within society.