International Toleration

"Liberal toleration seems increasingly under threat – both within nations and between them. Under these circumstances, work such as that of Pietro Maffetone becomes increasingly important. Maffetone provides a compelling and elegant defense of a particular vision of liberal tolerance; his account of toleration is capable of guiding liberal states seeking to identify those foreign political practices they are duty-bound to respect – as well as those they are rightly permitted to reject. The book draws on the history of liberal thought about toleration, while demonstrating the ways in which that history must be reinterpreted to make sense of modern international controversy. The book is rigorous, clear, and very likely right; it deserves to be taken seriously by political philosophers and political practitioners alike." — Michael Blake

"Since the publication of Rawls’s book, Political Liberalism, two questions have been central to the development of liberal political philosophy: how can a liberal political order be justified, given the pluralism that characterizes liberal societies; and how ought a liberal society to regard other societies that are not liberal? In this book, Pietro Maffettone makes an important contribution to answering the second question. Building on a novel interpretation of Rawls’s idea of toleration of nonliberal, but "decent" societies, Maffettone develops a methodologically sophisticated and plausible account of what we should expect of the people of nonliberal societies if they are to warrant our toleration. Further, he demonstrates that toleration is not just a matter of "putting up" with those you regards as inferior, but a positive affirmation of equal respect." — Allen Buchanan

'Liberal toleration seems increasingly under threat – both within nations and between them. Under these circumstances, work such as that of Pietro Maffettone becomes increasingly important. Maffettone provides a compelling and elegant defense of a particular vision of liberal tolerance; his account of toleration is capable of guiding liberal states seeking to identify those foreign political practices they are duty-bound to respect – as well as those they are rightly permitted to reject. The book draws on the history of liberal thought about toleration, while demonstrating the ways in which that history must be reinterpreted to make sense of modern international controversy. The book is rigorous, clear, and very likely right; it deserves to be taken seriously by political philosophers and political practitioners alike.' — Michael Blake, Professor of Philosophy, Public Policy, and Governance, Department of Philosophy and Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, USA

'Since the publication of Rawls’s book, Political Liberalism, two questions have been central to the development of liberal political philosophy: how can a liberal political order be justified, given the pluralism that characterizes liberal societies; and how ought a liberal society to regard other societies that are not liberal? In this book, Pietro Maffettone makes an important contribution to answering the second question. Building on a novel interpretation of Rawls’s idea of toleration of nonliberal but "decent" societies, Maffettone develops a methodologically sophisticated and plausible account of what we should expect of the people of nonliberal societies if they are to warrant our toleration. Further, he demonstrates that toleration is not just a matter of "putting up" with those you regards as inferior, but a positive affirmation of equal respect.' — Allen Buchanan, Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona; James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Duke University, USA