Hobbes surely spent the ten years (1641–1651) of greatest significance for his philosophical career on the Continent, in France, above all, in Paris. It was during this period that he published De cive; wrote the De motu, loco et tempore; produced a draft of the entire Leviathan as well as most of De corpore. His complicated relationship with Descartes has been studied closely, and Mersenne’s role has become clearer. There remains however the task of more carefully delineating the contours of Hobbes’s relations with the circles of “learned libertinism.” The Libertinism which will be dealt with here was not only French, instead of English, but also “theoretical” and “intellectual” rather than practical, and nothing at all sexual, contrary to the common usage of that word in the current language. French Libertinism was a philosophical trend aimed at promoting a non-conformist approach to religion, history, morals, and even politics.

霍布斯肯定在他的哲学生涯中度过了最重要的十年（1641-1651年），他在法国，尤其是在巴黎的欧洲大陆上度过了。正是在此期间，他发表了“迪夫” ; De Motu，loco et tempore写的；产生了整个Leviathan和大部分De corpore的草图。他与笛卡尔的复杂关系得到了深入研究，梅森的角色也变得更加清晰。但是，仍然存在着更仔细地描绘霍布斯与“学习的自由主义”圈子的关系轮廓的任务。这里要讨论的自由主义不仅是法语，而不是英语，而且是“理论的”和“知识分子的”而不是实践的，而且根本没有性，这与该词在当前语言中的普遍用法背道而驰。法国的自由主义是一种哲学趋势，旨在促进对宗教，历史，道德乃至政治采取不循规蹈矩的方法。