Encountering Others, Understanding Ourselves in Medieval and Early Modern Thought

Recent Research Has Challenged Our View Of The Abrahamic Religious Traditions As Unilaterally Intolerant And Incapable Of Recognizing Otherness In All Its Diversity And Richness; But A Diachronic And Comparative Study Of How These Traditions Deal With Otherness Is Yet To Appear. This Volume Aims To Contribute To Such A Study By Presenting Different Treatments Of Otherness In Medieval And Early Modern Thought. Part I: Altruism Deals With Attitudes And Behaviors That Benefit Others, Regardless Of Its Motives. We Deal With The Social Rights And Emotions As Well As The Moral Obligations That The Very Existence Of Other Human Beings, Whatever Their Characteristics, Creates For A Community. Part Ii: Religious Recognition And Toleration Considers Identity, Toleration And Mutual Recognition Created By The Existence Of Religious Or Ethnic Otherness In A Given Social, Religious Or Political Community. Part Iii: Evil Deals With Religious Otherness That Is Considered Evil And Rejected Such As Heretics And Malevolent, Demonic Entities. The Volume Will Ultimately Inform The Reader On The Nature Of Religious Toleration (including Beliefs And Doctrines, Even Emotions) As Well As Of The Self-definition Of Religious Communities When Encountering And Defining Otherness In Different Ways. Frontmatter -- Table Of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Part I: Evil -- Chapter 1 The Worst Of All Heresies: Polemical Responses To Waldensianism Ca. 1200 – 1400 -- Chapter 2 Richard Fitzralph On The Religious Other: Avignonian Intersections Between Christians, Muslims, And Tatars -- Chapter 3 Black People And Apes: ‘racism’ In Moses Maimonides -- Chapter 4 Law Without Reason: The Use Of Medieval Facts As Justification For Politics In Modern Russia -- Part Ii: Toleration -- Chapter 5 Back To Pre-constantinian Ethos? Transformation Of Christian Identity Under The Islamic Rule In Abbasid Times -- Chapter 6 A Two-way Process: Encounters Between Lutheran Authorities And Anabaptists In Sixteenth-century Württemberg -- Chapter 7 Introspection And Other Faiths In The Medieval Latin Tradition -- Chapter 8 Thinking The Foundations Of Toleration: Nicolas Of Cusa On Individuation, Alterity, And Diversity In Human Customs -- Chapter 9 Dimensions Of Toleration In The Political Theory Of Johannes Althusius -- Chapter 10 How To Translate Religious Concepts? Answers From Thirteenth- And Fourteenth-century Medieval Iberian Historians -- Part Iii: Altruism -- Chapter 11 From Charity To Rights: Theological And Legal Perspectives On Poor Relief In The Middle Ages -- Chapter 12 Encountering Others In Medieval Ethics: The Case Of Thomas Aquinas -- Chapter 13 Justice, Dignity, And The Care Of The Others: Pedro De Ledesma, True Interpreter Of Thomas Aquinas -- Chapter 14 Hope As A Social Emotion In Late Medieval Philosophical Theology -- Contributors -- Index Ed. By Nicolas Faucher, Virpi Mäkinen. Issued Also In Print. Mode Of Access: Internet Via World Wide Web. In English.