You know this doesn’t have to be relegated to “thought experiment”. It’s pretty much the story of a large part of human history:
There were no state-enforced laws, per se, but you didn’t kill people, because then their family/clan/tribe would kill you. Of course then your family would do the same, and well..you can see how this might be a never-ending downward spiral. A more sophisticated way would be to pay a weregild . (I killed your brother. Sorry. Here’s some goats.)
If you are interested in seeing how this actually worked out, early Icelandic society is a pretty good microcosm. If you want to make learning it fun, read a saga. (Here’s Njal’s Saga )
You know this doesn’t have to be relegated to “thought experiment”. It’s pretty much the story of a large part of human history:
There were no state-enforced laws, per se, but you didn’t kill people, because then their family/clan/tribe would kill you. Of course then your family would do the same, and well..you can see how this might be a never-ending downward spiral. A more sophisticated way would be to pay a weregild . (I killed your brother. Sorry. Here’s some goats.)
If you are interested in seeing how this actually worked out, early Icelandic society is a pretty good microcosm. If you want to make learning it fun, read a saga. (Here’s Njal’s Saga )
second learning about early Icelandic society, it has some fascinating legal and economic structures.