토마스 홉스와 무신론 (Thomas Hobbes and the Atheism)

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초록

This article aims to examine if Thomas Hobbes is an atheist. Concerning his religion, some insist that he is an atheist while others that he is a calvinist of the Anglican Church. Nobody can go into the inner thoughts of the author of Leviathan. In this case, it is important to take into consideration of what he himself said. Hobbes affirms that God exists and created the world and governs it by the Providence. So, he is not an atheist. But at the same time we cannot help admitting that his 'God' and 'Providence' are different from those interpreted by the Church. So he is, by definition, a heretic. And for this reason he considered himself to be true christian.
The actual Christianism must have dissatisfied him. For it is hardly compatible with his materialism, natural religion and civil religion. His religious thought is something that can evolve easily into the atheism, and is already criticized to be atheistic. We can justly doubt of his saying that he is not atheist, because it was dangerous to declare himself an atheist at that time. Did he hide his real conscience? It is possible, but nobody can be sure of it.
Hobbes apparently is not an atheist. Nevertheless he was ahead of his time in that he favored the atheism. Moreover, He influenced Spinoza and Rousseau to elaborate the pantheism, and baron d'Holbach to proclaim the atheism in the times of the Enlightenment. So it can be said that the author of Leviathan is in spite of himself on the list of the atheists.

영어초록

This article aims to examine if Thomas Hobbes is an atheist. Concerning his religion, some insist that he is an atheist while others that he is a calvinist of the Anglican Church. Nobody can go into the inner thoughts of the author of Leviathan. In this case, it is important to take into consideration of what he himself said. Hobbes affirms that God exists and created the world and governs it by the Providence. So, he is not an atheist. But at the same time we cannot help admitting that his 'God' and 'Providence' are different from those interpreted by the Church. So he is, by definition, a heretic. And for this reason he considered himself to be true christian.
The actual Christianism must have dissatisfied him. For it is hardly compatible with his materialism, natural religion and civil religion. His religious thought is something that can evolve easily into the atheism, and is already criticized to be atheistic. We can justly doubt of his saying that he is not atheist, because it was dangerous to declare himself an atheist at that time. Did he hide his real conscience? It is possible, but nobody can be sure of it.
Hobbes apparently is not an atheist. Nevertheless he was ahead of his time in that he favored the atheism. Moreover, He influenced Spinoza and Rousseau to elaborate the pantheism, and baron d'Holbach to proclaim the atheism in the times of the Enlightenment. So it can be said that the author of Leviathan is in spite of himself on the list of the atheists.

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