Abstract

Agreeing with the notion of conceptual history ("Begriffsgeschichte") advanced by Koselleck and particulary by Brunner, the author first contributes to the question of the so called "Sattelzeit": the basic concepts characterizing the modern conception of politics stem from that break with the former world determined by the new science of politics, or modern political philosophy, whose birth may be traced in Thomas Hobbes. Moreover, the author finds the core of conceptual history in the critical analysis of modern concepts and therefore proposes to see as indissolubly linked the work in conceptual history and the way of thinking typical of political philosophy.