Abstract

In this interview, Benjamin Kaplan revisits some of the central issues toleration has been grappling with over the last few centuries. In the introductory section he discusses various controversies and disagreements arising out of the different definitions of toleration. He then discusses the influence of other disciplines on the study of toleration allowing historians ‘to put the present into crucial perspective’. In the central part of this interview, he takes a closer look at the key developments in the study of the history of toleration and the principal ‘lessons’ emerging from the ‘study of the early modern era’. In the final part of the interview, he identifies three main challenges we are confronting in the study of toleration. His elucidation of the way historiography deals with toleration-related issues is a truly welcoming addition to research on toleration.