Toleration in Comparative Perspective is a collection of essays that explores conceptions of toleration and tolerance in Asia and the West. It tests the common assumption in Western political discourse and contemporary political theory that toleration is a uniquely Western virtue. Toleration in modern Western philosophy is understood as principled noninterference in the practices and beliefs of others that one disapproves of or, at least, dislikes. Although toleration might be seen today as a quintessential liberal value, precedents to this modern concept also existed in medieval times while Indigenous American stories about welcome challenge the very possibility of noninterference. The modern Western philosophical concept of toleration is not always easily translated into other philosophical traditions, but this book opens a dialogue between various traditions of thought to explore precisely the ways in which overlap and distinctions exist. What emerges is the existence of a family of resemblances in approaches to religious and cultural diversity from a program of pragmatic noninterference in the Ottoman Empire to deeper notions of acceptance and inclusiveness amongst the Newar People in the Kathmandu Valley. The development of an Islamic ethic of tolerance, the Daoist idea of all-inclusiveness, and Confucian ideas of broad-mindedness, respect, and coexistence to the idea of `the one in the many' in Hindu thought are examined along with sources for intolerance, tolerance, and toleration in Pali Buddhism, early modern Japan, and contemporary India.
Introduction, by Vicki A. Spencer Part I: The West Chapter 1: William of Ockham and Medieval Discourses on Toleration, by Takashi Shogimen Chapter 2: The Metaphysics of Toleration in American Indian Philosophy, by Scott L. Pratt Chapter 3: Human Fallibility and Locke's Doctrine of Toleration, by Vicki A. Spencer Chapter 4: Pierre Bayle and Benjamin Constant on Toleration, by Ken Tsutsumibayashi Part II: Southwest Asia Chapter 5: The Ottomans and Toleration, by Karen Barkey Chapter 6: Tolerance and Pluralism in Islamic Thought and Praxis, by Asma Afsaruddin Part III: South Asia Chapter 7: Tolerance in Nepal Mandala: Communal Relations and Royal Religious Patronage in Malla-Era Kathmandu, by Anne Mocko Chapter 8: The One in the Many in the Songs of Poet-saints of Medieval India: A Cultural Stance on Tolerance, by Neelima Shukla-Bhatt Chapter 9: The Limits of Intolerance: A Comparative Reflection on India's Experiment with Tolerance, by Purushottama Bilimoria Chapter 10: The Tolerations of Theravada Buddhism, by Benjamin Schonthal Part IV: East Asia Chapter 11: An Intolerant but Morally Indifferent Regime? Heresy and Immorality in Early Modern Japan, by Koichiro Matsuda Chapter 12: Two Conceptions of Tolerating in Confucian Thought, by Kam-por Yu Chapter 13: All Embracing: A Laozian Version of Toleration, by Xiaogan Liu Conclusion, by Vicki A. Spencer Suggested Further Readings About the Contributors
