Respecting toleration : traditional liberalism and contemporary diversity / Peter Balint.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Balint, Peter, 1971- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Toleration.

Cultural pluralism.

Physical Description:

viii, 167 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

The question of toleration matters more than ever. The politics of the twenty-first century is replete with both the successes and, all too often, the failures of toleration. Yet a growing number of thinkers and practitioners have argued against toleration. Some believe that liberal democracies are better served by different principles, such as respect of, or recognition for, people's ways of life. Others argue that because the liberal state should be entirely neutral or indifferent towards people's ways of life, it can no longer be tolerant - it has no grounds on which it can object, and so there is nothing left to tolerate. Respecting Toleration provides a new, original, and provocative take on the question of toleration and its application to the politics of contemporary diversity. Peter Balint argues for both the conceptual coherence and normative desirability of toleration and neutrality. He argues that it is these principles which best realise the basic liberal good of people living their lives as they see fit, rather than appealing to principles of recognition or respect for difference. While those who criticised liberalism's failings in dealing with the claims of diversity had justification, it is the tenets of traditional liberalism that hold the answer. Respecting Toleration argues that if one cares about people living divergent lives, then it is liberal toleration that should be respected by legislators and policy makers, and not people's differences.

Contents:

1 A Tolerant Society 1

Three Challenges for Toleration 2

Diversity 6

Accommodating Diversity 8

Justifying Toleration 10

Traditional Liberalism and Toleration 13

Two Types of Agent: State and Citizen 15

The Role of Principles 18

Outline of the Book 20

2 Understanding Political Toleration 23

Being 'Tolerant' 25

Specific Acts of Tolerance 28

Toleration as a General Political Practice 28

Toleration and State Neutrality 32

Further Challenges to Political Toleration 35

Understanding State Objection 35

Locating State Power 36

The 'Symmetry Thesis' 38

Alternative Solutions to the Problem of Political Toleration 41

Separating the Site of Power from the Site of Objection 42

Transformative Ideals 45

The 'Respect Conception' of Toleration 48

Conclusion 49

3 Active Indifference: A Neutral and Accommodating State 51

Challenging Neutrality 53

Conceptions of Neutrality 55

Why Care about Neutrality? 58

Active Indifference 60

Why 'Hands Off' Is Better than 'Hands On' 64

Identity and Recognition 70

Not Distinguishing between Mere Preferences and Deeply Held Beliefs 72

Conclusion 75

4 Tolerance and the Citizen 77

An Act of Tolerance 78

Objecting to Some Thing 80

The Power (Including Both Opportunity and Willingness) to Interfere Negatively with the Thing or Its Holder 81

Intentionally Not Negatively Interfering with the Thing or Its Holder 84

Reducing Intolerance 88

Tolerance and the State 94

A Tolerant Disposition 96

Conclusion 97

5 Against Respecting Each Others' Differences 99

An Obligation to Respect Difference? 101

Appraisal Respect for Difference 104

Recognition Respect for Difference 106

Directly Respecting Particular Differences 108

Respect-for-Persons Entailing Respect for Difference 109

Trying to Respect 112

Being Deemed 'Respect-worthy' 114

Tolerance and Respect 115

Conclusion 119

6 Practising Toleration 121

The Weightiness of Neutrality 122

Welfare Redistribution 123

Defending the Nation 125

Dealing with Difference 130

Mosques 130

Driver's Licence Photos 133

Discretion 135

Indigeneity 137

The Boundaries of Toleration 140

Conclusion 143

7 Conclusion 145.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-162) and index.

ISBN:

9780198758594

0198758596

OCLC:

953710554