The connection that Hobbes makes between reason, method, and science renders reason a faculty that is not only natural but also acquired and even somewhat exclusive. This idea might pose a serious problem to Hobbes’s political theory, as it relies heavily on the successful use of reason. This problem is demonstrated in Hobbes’s account of the laws of nature, for which some equality in human reason is clearly needed, but Hobbes is not explicit about the relationship between that and the more advanced form of reason that eventually leads to science. This article suggests that Hobbes’s account of reason is developmental. The seed of natural reason is common to everyone, and is sufficient for the establishment of the commonwealth. Thereafter, peace and leisure provide the necessary conditions for developing the rational skill, that is, fulfilling the human potential for rationality. Consequently, under the right circumstances, knowledge and science are expected to progress dramatically for the benefit of society, an open-ended vision which Hobbes nevertheless leaves implicit. Following Hobbes’s account of reason and philosophy closely can therefore show that he might have had great hopes for humankind, and that in this sense he was a key member of an English Enlightenment.

中文翻译：

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“因此，哲学就在你自己之内”

霍布斯在理性、方法和科学之间建立的联系使理性成为一种不仅是自然的，而且是后天获得的，甚至有点排他性的能力。这个想法可能会给霍布斯的政治理论带来严重的问题，因为它在很大程度上依赖于对理性的成功运用。这个问题在霍布斯对自然规律的描述中得到了证明，显然需要人类理性中的某种平等，但霍布斯并没有明确说明这与最终导致科学的更高级的理性形式之间的关系。这篇文章表明霍布斯对理性的解释是发展性的。自然理性的种子是人人共有的，足以建立共同体。此后，平静和闲暇为发展理性技能提供了必要条件，即：充分发挥人类的理性潜能。因此，在适当的情况下，为了社会的利益，人们期望知识和科学取得巨大进步，但霍布斯仍然隐含着一个开放式的愿景。因此，密切关注霍布斯对理性和哲学的描述，可以表明他可能对人类抱有很大的希望，从这个意义上说，他是英国启蒙运动的重要成员。