Tolerance and Modern Liberalism

Angebote / Angebote:

Modern liberal societies are submerged in conflict and disagreement. People disagree about almost everything, not only about matters of justice, but also about things that concern us in a more private way. They disagree on how we should interpret freedom and equality, they also disagree and even conflict with issues regarding the use of a veil, or about children wearing crucifixes in public spaces, they also enter into conflict and disagreement when we talk about issues such as homosexuality, extramarital sex, drugs, euthanasia, abortion, suicide, and experimentation on animals. All these problems can be understood as moral problems. But we do not only disagree about moral matters. We also have disagreements concerning other topics which are not related to moral issues at all. For modern liberals this is due to the possibility of people expressing themselves in a free and equal way and also having the right to disagree. This fact is indeed one of the biggest triumphs in the history of liberalism: the fact that many societies have come to be constituted by autonomous and free individuals that have the capacity to choose their lives and the values that will guide them. In the middle of this panorama, tolerance plays an extremely important role for liberal thinking. Without tolerance, disagreements and conflicts will hardly coexist or be resolved in a peaceful manner. Liberals say that despite the fact that there is a plurality of values and diversity within the different lifestyles, we should tolerate all those who do not agree with our own. On this view, tolerance becomes a key element for the flourishing and progression of moral life. Yet, liberals should ask themselves: if modern liberalism s structure of practical reason is compatible with the moral ideal of tolerance? Rene Gonzalez de la Vega argues that liberal deontological theories cannot give proper answers to the main problems raised by the moral ideal of tolerance.