Abstract: Far from defending « freedom of conscience », Montaigne et Hobbes advocate authoritarian forms of conflict resolution: Hobbes delegates this duty to the civil power while Montaigne thinks that the Roman Church would offer more efficient arbitration. Beyond political pragmatism, however, the two thinkers both aim for a reform of religion, which would expunge it of the various problems that lead it to contribute to the destruction of the social bond: arrogance, fanaticism and dogmatism.
