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BOOK REVIEW - John Locke "A Letter Concerning Toleration" (1689)
By Nayeli L. Riano
Toleration is a concept that we consider commonsensical today. Religious toleration, moreover, is a fundamental concept that many of us would consider essential for the human right to worship freely. However, this was not always the reality. What we recognise as a general custom of humanity has evolved from years of debate over what it means to be tolerant and toward whom. Also, we as a society still have a long way to go in this quest for tolerance, yet, though it may still be imperfect, toleration is a concept that has been broadened largely through thinkers in the liberal tradition.
Locke’s A Letter Concerning Toleration is a difficult work to critique because it is the product of his theological and political thoughts. Locke’s ideas on toleration were influential in developing liberal thought and importing fundamental liberal principles into the intellectual debate. On the one hand, the concept of tolerance described raised controversial questions and challenged liberal reasoning. On the other hand, it has restored tolerance as the basic principle for a liberal society.
Shortly after the publication of the book, Larry Siedentop wrote an article in the Financial Times denouncing the ‘moral tepidity’ of the West. The West obsessively equated liberalism with secularism and neutrality, ignoring the Medieval period, which was associated with darkness, ignorance, and...
Published 08/21/23
When thinking of “the law,” the average person in continental Europe thinks of codexes and books. The criminal code, the civil code, the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB, or German Civil Code), the Code Civil, and so on are collections of legal rules that seem to be created by parliaments and...
Published 08/17/23