Tolerance and Intolerance in Religion and Beyond : Challenges from the Past and in the Present

This book focuses on religious tolerance and intolerance in terms of practices, institutions, and intellectual habits. It brings together an array of historical and anthropological studies and philosophical, cognitive, and psychological explorations by established scholars from a range of disciplines.

The contributions feature modern and historic instances of tolerance and intolerance across a variety of geographies, societies, and religious traditions. They help readers to gain an understanding of the notion of tolerance and the historical consequences of intolerance from the perspective of different cultures, religions, and philosophies. The volume highlights tolerance’s potential to be a means to build bridges and at the same time determine limits.

Whilst the challenge of promoting tolerance has mostly been treated as a value or practice of demographic or religious majorities, this book offers a broader take and pays attention to minority perspectives. It is a valuable reference for scholars of religious studies, the sociology of religion, and the history of religion.

Anne Sarah Matviyets was a Research Associate and PhD student in the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Religion at the University of Hamburg, where she pursued research on modern Jewish philosophy. Since May 2023 she is chief curator of the Berend Lehmann Museum for Jewish History and Culture in Halberstadt.

Giuseppe Veltri is a full professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion at the University of Hamburg and the director of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies.

Jörg Rüpke is Fellow in Religious Studies and Vice-director of the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies of the University of Erfurt, Germany.