Hobbes and the autonomy of politics

Abstract

This paper attempts to contribute to the enterprise of attributing anautonomous theory of politics to Hobbes, according to which there are politicalquestions that cannot be reduced to spheres such as morality or religion. On thisview political conflicts cannot be put down to the immorality or irreligiousness ofthose involved but rather even fully moral and religious agents may well beinvolved in political conflicts.