Political Tolerance

Balancing Community and Diversity

The virtues of tolerance seem absolutely unassailable, at first glance. Yet qualified behavioural tolerance seems to have been replaced by a blank-cheque attitudinal tolerance which threatens individual liberty and stifles free speech. This argument is at the centre of this compelling book. Robert Weissberg takes a serious look at the political shifts over the past 30 years and their effect on attitudes and behaviour. What should be tolerated? Is being highly tolerant a praiseworthy virtue? Is the welcoming of differences too often merely a facade to avoid the charge of intolerance?