Why tolerate religion?

215 Pages·2013·2.385 MB·English

by  Brian Leiter, Brian Leiter

WHY TOLERATE RELIGION?

WHY TOLERATE RELIGION?
B r i a n L e it e r
with a new preface by the author
Princeton University Press
Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
All Rights Reserved
Fourth printing, and first paperback printing, with a new preface by the
author, 2014
Paperback ISBN 978-0-691-16354-3
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as
follows
Leiter, Brian.
Why tolerate religion? / Brian Leiter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. xxx) and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-15361-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Religious tolerance. 2. Freedom of religion. I. Title.
BL640.L45 2013
323.44’2—dc23
2012010977
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Garamond Premier Pro
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
5 7 9 10 8 6 4
For Samuel
who had to endure a “day in hell”
with the intolerant

Contents
Preface to the Paperback Edition ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
Chapter I
Toleration 5
Chapter II
Religion 26
Chapter III
Why Tolerate Religion? 54
Chapter IV
Why Respect Religion? 68
Contents
Chapter V
The Law of Religious Liberty in
a Tolerant Society 92
Notes 135
Selected Bibliography 175
Index 181
viii
Preface to the Paperback Edition
Internationally, this book has enjoyed a warm recep-
tion, with French and Italian translations already forth-
coming and appreciative reviews in newspapers in
Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and elsewhere. This is
not wholly surprising since, as I note in chapter 1, the
European countries typically recognize the equality of
religious and non-religious claims of conscience in their
foundational charters, if not in the cases actually litigated
in the courts. But in the United States, with its high level
of public religiosity (despite the absence of an established
church), the idea that religious and non-religious claims
of conscience should have equal moral standing has
proved more controversial.