HOBBES,THOMAS SKEPTICAL MORALIST

Thomas Hobbes is usually held to have been a skeptic in matters of rel igion and morality. I accept the claim that there is a distinctive ske ptical strain in Hobbes' thought but argue that his skepticism informs his moral vision, rather than depriving him of a conception of morali ty. As evidence for this reading, I situate Hobbes in a tradition of ' 'skeptical moralism,'' along with Montaigne and certain other Renaissa nce figures. As opposed to moral skeptics, skeptical moralists think o f moral agents as divided selves, pulled in one direction by law and a nother by conscience. Skeptical moralists use skepticism to make peopl e aware of this tension, and I argue that (especially in his remarks o n religion) Hobbes was doing just that.