«Passionate thought» ragione e passioni in Thomas Hobbes

We will examine three main stages of Hobbes' reflection on the relationship between reason and the passions. 1) The first is displayed in the Preface to the 2^nd ed. of De cive where Hobbes pleads a strong naturalization of the passions. 2) A step further is done when Hobbes reflects on the problem of deliberation, that is on the use of practical reason. During his polemic with Bramhall, he takes sides against the Aristotelian theory of orexis dianoetike. 3) Finally, Leviathan finds in the passion of curiosity the engine that puts in motion the human mind. This new solution implies going beyond the dualism between reason and passions, at which the preface of the second edition of De cive had halted, but at the same time this solution implies a new definition of human specificity.