Abstract: In Thomas Hobbes, one finds a development of the libertine conception of religion: the origin of religion is the same, but its function is quite different. Hobbes criticizes the libertine conception according to which, without religion, both human society and respect for laws are impossible. For the libertines, only the fear of God can curb egoistical instincts. Hobbes, for his part, prefers to defer to reason and its calculations, thus to the consent of citizens who commit themselves to obeying the sovereign.
