Montaigne and the tolerance of politics

Abstract

'Montaigne and the Tolerance of Politics' argues for toleration as a practice of negotiation, looking to a philosopher not usually considered political: Michel de Montaigne. Douglas I. Thompson draws on Montaigne's Essais to recover the idea that political negotiation grows out of genuine care for public goods and the establishment of political trust. The work arg that Montaigne's view of tolerance is worth recovering and reconsidering in contemporary democratic societies where political leaders and ordinary citizens are becoming less able to talk to each other to resolve political conflicts and work for shared public goods.