Toleration: The Liberal Virtue

Bican Sahin

doi:10.5771/9780739147412

Summary

More than anything, diversity is what characterizes societies of the 21st century. Our contemporary societies are marked by ethnic, religious, racial, ideological, moral, and sexual diversity. Cultural, moral, and ideological pluralism is a fact of our lives. While some people see this phenomenon as a source of richness and thus welcome it, others feel threatened by it. Those who feel threatened have two options before them; they will either learn how to live with diversity or look for ways to suppress it. While, this latter option causes social conflict, the former ameliorates social conflict. This option is called 'toleration.' Toleration: The Liberal Virtue is a defense of toleration as a remedy to societal conflict caused by differences. It examines four prominent grounds of toleration: skepticism, prudence, autonomy, and conscience which are illustrated through the works of four pioneering liberals, namely, Michel de Montaigne, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Pierre Bayle, respectively.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2010
Copyright Year: 2010
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7391-4739-9
ISBN-Online: 978-0-7391-4741-2
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 124
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
Chapter One: Introduction No access Pages 1 - 12
Chapter Two: Skepticism and Toleration: The Case of Michel de Montaigne No access Pages 13 - 30
Chapter Three: Prudence and Toleration: The Case of John Locke No access Pages 31 - 48
Chapter Four: Autonomy and Toleration: The Case of John Stuart Mill No access Pages 49 - 64
Chapter Five: Conscience and Toleration: The Case of Pierre Bayle No access Pages 65 - 84
Chapter Six: Two Versions of Liberalism and Their Positions on Toleration No access Pages 85 - 98
Chapter Seven: Conclusion No access Pages 99 - 108
Bibliography No access Pages 109 - 114
Index No access Pages 115 - 122
About the Author No access Pages 123 - 124