From Tolerance to Hospitality

Abstract

This chapter explores the emergence in the Western philosophical tradition of tolerance as the quintessential modern Western virtue, articulated by John Locke and distinctly tied to the development of the Western liberal tradition. It argues that tolerance is a minimalist virtue with problematic dimensions. The need for a more robust virtue, as conceptualized in various religious traditions and central to the Hizmet movement, is explored. Drawing on a range of religious and philosophical sources, it argues that the practice of dialogue requires an understanding and practicing of the virtue of hospitality. Tolerance should be promoted as a first step toward the more robust virtue of hospitality so needed in our contemporary global world of inter-cultural and inter-religious interactions.