Il problema della coscienza nella teologia politica di Thomas Hobbes.

Why did Hobbes write the Leviathan? In pursuit of an answer to this crucial question, this study suggests that Hobbes began his major political work in order to radically reform both consciences and the very notion of conscience, as this politico-theological concept was decisive to the success of his philosophical programme. During what was called «the Age of Conscience», the internal forum was invoked as the last guarantee of individual salvation and collective order. Religious and political duties were based on conscience; yet, the authentic «rule of conduct» was going through a profound crisis. By triggering «all seditions concerning religion and ecclesiastical government», conscience turned out to be a device for the subjection of the masses and a deadly disease for the political body, and therefore a major obstacle to the constitution of Hobbes's well-grounded state. The study shows how Hobbes, after criticizing the key category of Christian moral theology, gave it a scientific foundation, which made the "cum-scientia" the pivot of political unity, while securing the public sphere from private convictions on right and wrong. Through the combination of different methods, like lexicographic analysis and intellectual history, the study examines at first the problematic character of the Hobbesian conscience against the backdrop of contemporary conceptions. Then it illustrates the etymological argument of the seventh chapter of Leviathan, by depicting it as the turning point of Hobbes's reflection on the idea of conscience. Finally, the ethical and political implications of the etymology are analysed in the context of both casuistry and the Cartesian reform of probabilism.