Theological Origins of Modernity

hobbes’ fearful wisdom 209
view is the result of an interruption of our vital life processes brought
about by a collision with other human and nonhuman things that interrupt
our vital motions. Th e fear of violent death is thus really the fear of
such collisions. In order to preserve ourselves, we thus must understand
and eliminate the causes of such collisions. Th e search for the ultimate
causes of such collisions, however, leads us back to the beginning of all
motion and that for Hobbes is God. Insofar as fear inspires us to reason,
it is thus the fear of the Lord that for Hobbes (as for Descartes) is the beginning
of wisdom. Hobbes’ science in general and his political science in
particular thus involve an investigation of God.
Th e fear of gods was well known in the classical world, but this fear was
generally considered a distraction and not the source of wisdom. Th inking
for Aristotle begins in the experience of wonder, and it is a love of things
that are higher and more beautiful than we are. For Hobbes thinking begins
not with a sense of the overwhelming and inexplicable bounty of being
but with a recognition that misery and death are close at hand and that
we need to preserve ourselves. Fear leads us to search for to the invisible
causes behind all things.
Our initial response to the fear of such invisible powers is to propitiate
them. According to Hobbes, this is the source of the natural piety that is the
foundation of all religions. 2 Th e world for natural man is a dark place ruled
by a mysterious and indefi nable force that ultimately produces our death. 3
While our fear of this dark power typically ends in superstition, Hobbes
suggests that under the right conditions it can also induce us to the kind
of refl ections that improve our earthly lot. Th e fi rst step toward this end is
the recognition that the gods or God do not intervene directly in earthly
aff airs. Once this becomes clear, fear pushes human beings in a new direction,
away from a concern with a malign divine will that has singled us out
and toward an encounter with the reality of the natural world. Th is in turn
gives rise to the joy in discovering the causes of things that Hobbes calls
curiosity. Th e fi nal step is the recognition that by understanding causes we
can develop a science that will make us masters and possessors of nature
and enable us to eliminate the danger of violent death.
Th is brief summary of Hobbes’ argument is suffi cient to allow us to
see the deep connection between theology, politics, and science in his
thought. In what follows, I will argue that his dark view of the world is
the result of his acceptance of the basic tenets of nominalism, especially
as it is received and transmuted by the Reformation. I will argue further
that Hobbes transforms this thought in essential ways. Luther and Calvin
sought to show that nothing we do on earth can aff ect our chances of salvation,
which depend solely on divine election. Hobbes accepts this doc-