The Notion of Tolerance and Human Rights: Essays in Honour of Raymond Klibansky

Evan Simpson is a philosophy professor at McMaster University in
Hamilton.

Previous volumes of essays in honor of Raymond Klibansky appeared in
1975 and 1979. This volume marks the occasion of his 85th birthday and
consists of articles on a political dimension of his work. The 11
contributors are all associated with McGill University. Articles by
Harry M. Bracken, Michel Paradis, and Ethel Groffier compare the views
of Bayle and Locke on toleration in various ways. For some reason they
are scattered throughout the book, which lacks both an obvious principle
of organization and an index. Two further pieces, by Désirée Park and
Louise Marcil-Lacoste, focus on Locke alone. Pamala D. Stewart discusses
religious toleration as expressed in Boccaccio’s Decameron and
Claude-Armand Sheppard addresses conflicts between the popular will and
principles of tolerance in Canadian language laws. In a brief piece on
rights and duties, Mario Bunge provides an excerpt from work previously
published (presumably with more argument) elsewhere, while Charles
Taylor analyzes the idea of civil society in relationship to the concept
of right. Articles on melancholia by Konstantinos Arvanitakis and on
science and culture by William R. Shea have little directly to do with
either tolerance or rights, in spite of the occurrence of the word
“tolerance” in the title of the former. The several contributions
differ markedly in strength and originality.