Le paure della ragione. Gestione delle passioni e rapporto con il potere in Descartes

In the «provisional moral code» of the Discourse on the Method, Descartes asserts the opportunity to accept the laws and the costumes of one’s own country, leaving apart any social or political conflict. Starting from this political position, this paper focuses on the analysis of “fear” in The Passions of the Soul and, particularly, on the strategies of control of this passion. The aim is to demonstrate that Descartes – unlike Hobbes – does not assign to the political power any jurisdiction in the government of passions. As the private citizen must not contest power, so political power must not interfere in the personal governance of passions.