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February 15, 2015 12:21 PM Subscribe
After the Charlie Hebdo killings, Voltaire's Treatise on Tolerance is flying off the shelves.
The publishing house Gallimard, which puts out the pocket edition of Voltaire's tolerance manifesto, says it is already on its second reprint. Nearly half as many copies have been sold in the last three weeks than in the last 12 years.
(The linked NPR article is datelined today but does not mention today's shootings in Copenhagen at the "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression" conference and at the Great Synagogue, but it's hard to imagine those hurting Treatise on Tolerance's sudden popularity.)
Treatise on Tolerance
Traité sur la tolérance (N.b. lots of notes, for readers of French)
The publishing house Gallimard, which puts out the pocket edition of Voltaire's tolerance manifesto, says it is already on its second reprint. Nearly half as many copies have been sold in the last three weeks than in the last 12 years.
(The linked NPR article is datelined today but does not mention today's shootings in Copenhagen at the "Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression" conference and at the Great Synagogue, but it's hard to imagine those hurting Treatise on Tolerance's sudden popularity.)
Treatise on Tolerance
Traité sur la tolérance (N.b. lots of notes, for readers of French)
Sadly, as per usual, those most likely to benefit are those least likely to read it.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:15 PM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 1:15 PM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
I just want give France some props. My country, when subjected to terrorist attacks, fucked the response up enormously and started an entirely unrelated war. I think I'd rather have the culture where the response to violence is a spike in sales for Voltaire.
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:59 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:59 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Voltaire was a vicious anti-Semite so I don't know if I should take him seriously on the topic of tolerance.
posted by silby at 2:20 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by silby at 2:20 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Voltaire was contemptuous of most religions, actually.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:20 PM on February 15, 2015
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:20 PM on February 15, 2015
Voltaire was contemptuous of most religions, actually.posted by ZenMasterThis
You get that "being contemptuous of religion" and being anti-Semitic are different, right?
posted by silby at 5:06 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Voltaire was a vicious anti-Semite so I don't know if I should take him seriously on the topic of tolerance.
silby
Of course you should. Being a hypocrite doesn't make you wrong. Attack the ideas if they're wrong, not the man.
posted by Sangermaine at 5:21 PM on February 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
silby
Of course you should. Being a hypocrite doesn't make you wrong. Attack the ideas if they're wrong, not the man.
posted by Sangermaine at 5:21 PM on February 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
You get that "being contemptuous of religion" and being anti-Semitic are different, right?
The problem is that France has a bit of an issue with linking the two - see the Dreyfuss Affair for an example.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:36 AM on February 16, 2015
The problem is that France has a bit of an issue with linking the two - see the Dreyfuss Affair for an example.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:36 AM on February 16, 2015
Mod note: Several comments deleted. Extended exchange about whether quoting Marcuse is a sign of privilege is a derail and tanking the thread; if you guys really want to pursue that with each other maybe take it to email. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:06 PM on February 16, 2015
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:06 PM on February 16, 2015
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posted by standardasparagus at 12:42 PM on February 15, 2015 [4 favorites]