Hobbes, Spinoza and Locke on Heresy

Abstract

Both the Latin edition of Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Letter Concerning Toleration include appendices about the notion of heresy. The object of the present article is to explain the connection between the mentioned appendices and the rest of the work of these authors. In this way, attention is drawn to the fundamental role played by doctrinal minimalism in early modern political thought.