Toleration ― The Liberal Virtue

"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. Bican 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."---Alan Levine, author of Sensual Philosophy: Toleration, Skepticism and Montaigne's Politics of the Self

"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 Kukathas. The book is written with clarity and authority."---Leonard Liggio, Atlas Economic Research Foundation

"Sahin has done an excellent job of putting the debate about toleration into historical perspective."---Nicholas Capaldi, Loyola University New Orleans

More than anything, diversity characterizes twenty-first century societies. They are marked by ethnic, religious, racial, ideological, moral, and sexual differences. While some people welcome this phenomenon as a source of richness, others feel threatened by it. Those who feel threatened have two options before them: attempt to eradicate it or learn to live with it. While one option brings conflict, the other brings peace. This latter 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 theories of toleration based on skepticism, prudence, autonomy, and conscience. Each of these four theories is illustrated through the work of a pioneering liberal thinker---Michel de Montaigne, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Pierre Bayle. Furthermore, this historical approach is put into the context of current debate among contemporary liberal thinkers such as Will Kymlicka and Chandran Kukathas.

Bican Sahin is associate professor of political science in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.