L’altra faccia dei Lumi. In ricordo di Mario Sina

This essay reconstructs the intellectual profile of Mario Sina (1941–2022), highlighting his contribution to the study of the relationship between faith and reason in early modern philosophy. Through an overview of his major works, the article shows how Sina challenged reductive interpretations of the Enlightenment as inherently anti-Christian, emphasizing instead the enduring influence of Christian revelation on European philosophical thought. Particular attention is devoted to his pioneering studies on John Locke, whose religious writings Sina helped recover and reinterpret, demonstrating the centrality of theological concerns in the development of Locke’s philosophy, ethics, and doctrine of toleration. The essay also examines Sina’s research on figures such as Jean Le Clerc, Jean-Robert Chouet, Pierre Bayle, and Cartesian thinkers of the seventeenth century, as well as his editorial work on previously unpublished texts. By combining rigorous historical scholarship with philosophical sensitivity, Sina revealed the complex interactions between theology, philosophy, and emerging modern culture, offering a nuanced understanding of the origins of the Enlightenment.