Liberal Toleration

Explores the concept of tolerance as the central virtue of liberalism, arguing that it is a consistent doctrine that extends the religious tolerance basic to many democratic cultures. John Locke & John Stuart Mill's incorporation of some negativity toward that which is tolerated makes their conceptions of tolerance narrower than that of Michael Walzer (1997), who includes all social arrangements that incorporate difference. Minimalist & voluntarist arguments for liberal tolerance are examined, along with reasons both are rejected by Michael Sandel (1996), who associates the minimalist argument with the political liberalism of John Rawls (1993), claiming it is more practical to use a neutral framework like justice to seek agreement than moral/religious convictions that are bound to differ in plural societies. Gertrude Himmelfarb (1994) suggests an association between liberalism & demoralization, & warns against inadvertently giving more validity to one's own beliefs than to those of others. The concept of liberal tolerance is applied to contemporary issues, ie, abortion & voluntary euthanasia. 26 References. J. Lindroth