Toleration

Definition of Toleration

Toleration is the deliberate acceptance of beliefs, practices, or ways of life that one disapproves of or disagrees with. The concept contains a paradox: why should one tolerate what one believes to be wrong? The answer, in the liberal tradition, is that the harm of interference outweighs the harm of the tolerated practice, or that the principle of respect for individual autonomy requires that persons be allowed to make their own choices even when those choices are mistaken.

The classic arguments for toleration are grounded in the recognition of human fallibility, the value of free inquiry, and the importance of peace and social stability. Toleration has limits: no society can tolerate everything, and the question of where to draw the line — between harmless diversity and genuinely harmful practices — is one of the most contested issues in political philosophy.

Key Thinkers

John Locke's A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) argued for the separation of civil and religious authority, holding that the state has no jurisdiction over matters of conscience and that coercion cannot produce genuine religious belief. John Stuart Mill, in On Liberty, argued for toleration on the grounds that the free exchange of ideas is essential for truth, individual development, and social progress. Voltaire famously defended toleration in his Treatise on Toleration, arguing against religious fanaticism in the wake of the Calas affair. John Rawls, in Political Liberalism, argued that toleration is not merely a modus vivendi but a matter of justice: reasonable citizens in a pluralistic society must accept the burdens of judgment and respect the right of others to hold different comprehensive doctrines. Wendy Brown has critiqued liberal toleration as a discourse that masks power relations and reinforces the superiority of the tolerating subject over the tolerated other.