The Idea
This claim links the weakness of tolerance not to a fixed nature in societies, but to the absence of the conditions that make modernity possible and effective. Tolerance here does not appear as an abstract moral slogan, but as the result of an intellectual and social environment that allows for plural opinions and reduces the dominance of closed certainty. The problem, then, is not difference among people, but the weakness of the horizon that organizes difference and makes it livable in common.
Concise Formulation
Weakness of tolerance: linked to the absence of the conditions of modernity
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This statement lies at the heart of the book’s argument when it connects the crisis of contemporary Islamic thought to historical and epistemic obstacles that prevent the formation of an open critical mind. The reference to late modernity is not praise for modernity in itself, but rather an explanation that tolerance requires cultural and institutional conditions that cannot be achieved by theoretical declaration alone. In this way, the weakness of tolerance becomes a sign of a broader dysfunction in the construction of the public intellectual sphere.
Why It Matters
The importance of this claim lies in the fact that it shifts the discussion from direct moral blame to a structural understanding of the causes of closure. It also helps read Arkoun as linking the values of coexistence to a reorganization of knowledge and historical awareness, rather than to mere exhortation. From this perspective, his core idea becomes clear: reform does not begin by repeating calls for tolerance, but by creating its conditions.
Brief Evidence
This claim links the weakness of tolerance not to a fixed nature in societies, but to the absence of the conditions that make modernity possible and effective. Tolerance here does not appear as an abstract moral slogan, but as the result of an intellectual and social environment that allows for plural opinions and reduces the dominance of closed certainty. The problem, then, is not difference among people, but the weakness of the horizon that organizes this difference.
Reading Questions
- Does the text mean that tolerance weakens because of the historical absence of modernity, or because of the delayed formation of its cultural institutions?
- How does this connection between modernity and tolerance change the way the crisis of contemporary Islamic thought is understood?
Documentation Level
High: the claim appears in a clear passage of the book’s material.