Toleration: The Liberal Virtue [Hardcover]

In today's globalized world, in which different peoples, states, and religions increasingly interact -and sometimes collide-with one another, few problems are more pressing than the issue of toleration. Sahin probes the paradox of toleration by asking the question why should we not persecute that with which we disagree? Using canonical political theorists - Montaigne, Locke, Mill and Bayle - as well as contemporary thinkers such as Kymlicka and Kukathas, Sahin presents an array of answers rooted in four different grounds for toleration: skepticism, prudence, autonomy, and conscience. Sahin's book is a good introduction to an important and timely issue. It is as enlightening as it is useful.Sahin has done an excellent job of putting the debate about toleration into historical perspective.Bican Sahin has provided an important study of the development of the Western concept of toleration. His analysis of the early modern thinkers is complemented by his consideration of John Stuart Mill, Will Kymlicka and Chandran Kukathus. The book is written with clarity and authority.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.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 lӟ