The Paradox of Tolerance Michael Lacewing co.uk

Tolerance We can only tolerate practices, values, and beliefs of other people when these differ from our own. Not minding or caring isn’t really tolerance, which involves not acting (in certain ways) on one’s opposition to the practice etc. Restraint is not out of fear or powerlessness.

Can racists be tolerant? If tolerance is just not acting on disapproval, then racists can be tolerant. One’s disapproval must not be based on ‘mere prejudice’, but e.g. on ‘responsible judgment’ or being ‘reasonable’ –But is there a neutral account of what is ‘reasonable’? Tolerance as a virtue: one’s restraint is for the right moral or political reasons

Tensions: psychological What reason can there be to tolerate what you think is wrong? If you think it is morally right to show restraint, are you still morally opposed to the other view?

Tensions: political Should a liberal society tolerate a minority culture that doesn’t respect its values? –It rejects the values of individual autonomy and tolerance in favour of the authority of tradition, and seeks to enforce its values within the cultural community. –If it were the majority culture, it would advocate legal and social sanctions against those who disagreed. Can, or should, liberals tolerate the intolerant or intolerable?

Paradox Tolerance is most needed when one view rejects tolerance. If both agree that individual autonomy must be respected, little tolerance is needed. If the reason for tolerance is to respect autonomy, why would we tolerate a view that did not respect autonomy? Don’t we increase autonomy by not tolerating views that do not respect autonomy? But if a liberal society could only tolerate cultures that accept liberal values, how would this be tolerance at all?

Defending tolerance To argue that intolerant views cannot be tolerated is not intolerance. E.g. it is quite different from the intolerance of a view that tries to impose a specific way of living on people. We cannot refuse to make any value judgment about different cultures or we lose the value judgments that favour tolerance over intolerance.

Why be tolerant? Strife Fallibility Autonomy –As happiness –As respect for equality Diversity