En el origen de la tolerancia y la libertad de conciencia: Servet, Calvino y Castellio

Abstract

Tolerance and freedom of conscience, beyond the conceptual controversies that they can generate, are two conquests in the struggle of humankind for recognition and positivisation of fundamental rights and individual freedoms. In fact, they can be found in the historical origin of the modern conception of rights and of the transformation of the legal-political categories that took place in Europe from the 16th century onwards. This article develops the thesis that the start of philosophical reflection on tolerance and freedom of conscience was closely linked to the breakdown of religious unity produced by the Reform and, in particular, the debate that emerged regarding the legal-religious treatment that heretics deserved. In this sense, the trial, the sentencing and burning at the stake of Miguel Servet marked an important turning point. I t can be said that, following that time, Sebastián Castellio would speak out against Juan Calvino in favour of tolerance towards heretics, thus starting the slow but steady process of achieving fundamental rights and individual freedoms.