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This book offers a detailed analysis of John Locke's case for toleration and proposes an interpretation that shows the links between his political reasoning and his reflection on the ethics of belief. Locke is concerned with toleration not only when he discusses the ends of the Commonwealth, but also when he assesses the duties of private persons regarding the search for truth. The purpose of this book is to shed light on both of these branches, which have not been sufficiently explored in other studies on Locke.
With particular attention to the notions of charity, obstinacy, fallibility, reciprocity and distinction between belief and knowledge, the author proposes a reading of the Epistola de Tolerantia, an extensive discussion of the controversy between Locke and Jonas Proast, as well as an examination of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in order to establish the meaning and interconnection of Locke's arguments in favour of toleration.
List of contents
Introduction.- 1. The argumentative structure of the Epistola de Tolerantia.- 2. The Locke and Proast Controversy.- 3. Ethics of Belief.- Conclusion.
About the author
Flavio Fontenelle Loque is associate professor at the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil. His primary research interests are toleration and the history of scepticism. He has published a work on fideism,
Ceticismo e religião no início da modernidade (Loyola, 2012),
Scetticismo e religione all'inizio dell'età moderna (Morcelliana, 2018), and a bilingual and commented edition of John Locke's
Epistola de Tolerantia (Autêntica, 2019) in partnership with Fábio Fortes and Wellington Ferreira Lima. His research interests include the notion of
laïcité and the translation of modern authors, such as John Locke, Blaise Pascal, and Pierre Bayle.
