The Concept of Political Modernity and Its Transformations Between the Attitude of Tolerance and the Policy of Recognition

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the concept of political modernity based on the principle of freedom, which was embodied in the recognition of individuals’ particular existence (such as freedom of belief), alongside their existence as citizens within a public sphere where they enjoyed shared universal rights. This recognition took a first form in the principle of tolerance, which was clearly expressed in John Locke’s philosophy through the separation between the religious and the civil spheres. The civil ruler was expected to adopt a tolerant position that required refraining from interfering in individuals’ private lives and working instead to establish and implement laws to protect individuals’ property and security. The second form of recognition was manifested in what Charles Taylor referred to as the “politics of recognition,” which he argued should replace the model based on integrating all forms of difference into a single framework governed by universal values and standards that disregard identity-based particularities, especially cultural ones. This perspective was guided by the idea that human dignity requires institutional and legal recognition of universal rights, alongside identity-related rights associated with cultural pluralism.