Thomas Hobbes e a controvérsia acerca da interpretação da lei: uma questão jurídica contemporânea vista à luz do Commonwealth hobbesiano

The aim of this article is to show how a problem in contemporary theory of law raises questions that could be illuminated by the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. In order to do that, I will analyze a decision of the North American Supreme Court that retakes an twenty years old open debate concerning civil rights. In this context, the hobbesien notion of Republic will be presented as supplying a theory of legal interpretation that allows us to take the good side in this debate.