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Since the 5th century BCE Persia has played a significant part in
representing the "Other" against which European identity has been
constructed. What makes the case of Persia unique in this process
of identity formation is the ambivalent attitude that Europe has
shown in its imaginary about Persia. Persia is arguably the nation
of "the Orient" most referred to in Early Modern European writings,
frequently mentioned in various discourses of the Enlightenment
including theology, literature, and political theory. What was the
appeal of Persia to such a diverse intellectual population in
Enlightenment Europe? How did intellectuals engage with the 'facts'
about Persia? In what ways did utilizing Persia contribute to the
development of modern European identities? In this volume, an
international group of scholars with diverse academic backgrounds
has tackled these and other questions related to the
Enlightenment's engagement with Persia. In doing so, Persia and the
Enlightenment questions reductionist assessments of Modern Europe's
encounter with the Middle East, where a complex engagement is
simplified to a confrontation between liberalism and Islam, or an
exaggerated Orientalism. By carefully studying Persia in the
Enlightenment narratives, this volume throws new light on the
complexity of intercultural encounters and their impact on the
shaping of collective identities.
In today's developed world, much of what people believe about
religious toleration has evolved from crucial innovations in
toleration theory developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Thinkers from that period have been rightly celebrated
for creating influential, liberating concepts and ideas that have
enabled many of us to live in peace. However, their work was
certainly not perfect. In this enlightening volume, John Christian
Laursen and Maria Jose Villaverde have gathered contributors to
focus on the paradoxes, blindspots, unexpected flaws, or
ambiguities in early modern toleration theories and practices. Each
chapter explores the complexities, complications, and
inconsistencies that came up in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries as people grappled with the idea of toleration. In
understanding the weaknesses, contradictions, and ambivalences in
other theories, they hope to provoke thought about the defects in
ways of thinking about toleration in order to help in overcoming
similar problems in contemporary toleration theories.
In today's developed world, much of what people believe about
religious toleration has evolved from crucial innovations in
toleration theory developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Thinkers from that period have been rightly celebrated
for creating influential, liberating concepts and ideas that have
enabled many of us to live in peace. However, their work was
certainly not perfect. In this enlightening volume, John Christian
Laursen and Maria Jose Villaverde have gathered contributors to
focus on the paradoxes, blindspots, unexpected flaws, or
ambiguities in early modern toleration theories and practices. Each
chapter explores the complexities, complications, and
inconsistencies that came up in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries as people grappled with the idea of toleration. In
understanding the weaknesses, contradictions, and ambivalences in
other theories, they hope to provoke thought about the defects in
ways of thinking about toleration in order to help in overcoming
similar problems in contemporary toleration theories.
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