| The development of human civilization has put forward new theoretical needs for the study of political philosophy,prompting us to go back to modern political philosophy to explore the theoretical foundations of modern civilization.Hobbes is one of the important founders of modern political philosophy,the research of Hobbes’ s political philosophy holds theoretical and practical significance.For a long time,secularist interpretations of Hobbes’ s thought have dominated the academic circles.However,Martinich’s study of Hobbes’ s thought has led to an important shift in international Hobbes studies in recent years,bringing attention and consideration of religion back to the forefront of Hobbes’ s scholars’ perspectives.This provides us with new possibilities and theoretical resources for a comprehensive understanding of Hobbes’ s thought.Based on his research interests in analytic philosophy and philosophy of language,Martinich first explored what constitutes a good way of interpretation.Due to the nature of the "Networks of Belief",there are various difficulties in achieving theoretical persuasion;due to the asymmetry of speech acts theory,scholars studying the history of Hobbes’ s thought often misinterpret texts.Martinich wanted to seek a research method and an interpretive approach that is text-based,context-oriented,and adhering to the principles of good interpretation.In the process of focusing on Hobbes’ s texts and the context of Hobbes’ s era,he clarified the important role of religion in Hobbes’ s political philosophy,and developed an interpretive approach that combines politics and religion.Based on the requirement of the principle of good interpretation,Martinich examined the religious views held by Hobbes and the key aspects of his theory of political philosophy in order to reveal the intrinsic relationship between politics and religion in Hobbes’ s thought.He demonstrated that interpreting Hobbes’ s thought within the tension between politics and religion is a more logical way of interpretation.Firstly,scholars represented by Strauss and Curley tend to interpret Hobbes as an anti-religious atheist.Martinich,however,argues that considering the broad meaning of the term "atheism" at the time,the criticisms of Hobbes do not indicate that he was truly an atheist.He was sincere in his approach to religious issues,held orthodox religious views,was an English Calvinist,and tried to reconcile the contradictions between the new science and the old religion.This interpretation is better than the metaphorical and ironic interpretations of scholars like Strauss and Curley.Secondly,Martinich argues that in Hobbes’ s state of nature there is no common force other than God,and thus justice,morality,and contracts in the state of nature depend on the irresistible power of God as embodied in the law of nature.While the content of the law of nature conforms to rational prescriptions,the authority and binding force of the law of nature come from God’s promulgation of the law of nature.Therefore,the law of nature is a unity of rational prescriptions and God’s commands,where Hobbes attempts to reconcile the two traditional ways of understanding the law of nature,rationalism and voluntarism.Thirdly,the concepts of contract and covenant used by Hobbes are directly related to religion.He not only utilizes a large number of biblical concepts,but also implies his discussion of religious issues,especially his opposition to the Church of Scotland’s view that "human can covenant with God directly" and its political consequences.Hobbes tries to prove the idea that "human can only make a covenant with God through an intermediary" by the Bible,thus opposing the theological view of Church of Scotland and its political consequences.Fourthly,Martinich argues that the ambiguities in Hobbes’ s account of the sovereign-making covenants reflect his ambivalence in wanting citizens to be the direct source of the state’s power while not wanting them to attempt to resist the state.This leaves certain difficulties in understanding Hobbes’ s theory of the sovereign.Based on a renewed understanding of Hobbes’ s sovereign-making covenants,Martinich argues that Hobbes’ s sovereign imitates God in a threefold sense,the irresistible power of both the sovereign and God,the unilateral obligation between human and God and between human and the sovereign,and the salvation of human from sin and death by both God and the sovereign.At the same time,churches and religious affairs should be subject to the administration of the sovereign.In summary,Martinich believes that interpreting Hobbes within the tension between politics and religion is a more logical way of interpretation in terms of Hobbes’ s conception of religion,his conception of the law of nature,his conception of contracts and covenants,and his conception of the sovereign.Martinich’s study of Hobbes,which takes the pursuit of a good way of interpretation as its starting point,holds significant importance and value for the study of Hobbes’ s thought,not only clarifying the misinterpretation of Hobbes’ s conception of religion to a certain extent,providing a general way of interpreting thinkers’ thoughts,but also revealing the connection between Hobbes’ s thought and the religious tradition.This demonstrates the historical process by which modern Western politics gradually emerged from religious traditions.Further,analyzing Martinich’s study of Hobbes also helps us understand the role of politics and religion in the development of Western civilization from traditional to modern forms.It sheds light on the long-term entanglement between tradition and modernity in the formation of modern Western civilization,thereby enhancing our understanding of modern Western civilization. |
