Montaigne, Hobbes et les vertus de l’obéissance

This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of early modern discourse on civic morality. By way of a comparative analysis of references to virtue in Montaigne’s and Hobbes’s account of the moral experience of political subjects, I show that, while both authors advocate the virtue of obedience, their respective arguments rest upon incompatible notions of political authority and civic duties.