Customer Reviews

On Toleration (Castle Lectures Series)

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This book's strength lies in its many examples and systematic structure. The topic is engaging, and it will keep you reading. The fact that it was begotten out of a lecture series helps to keep it brief and not overly wordy. Worth the read if you are interested in the relationship between different groups.

Toleration in Walzer's mind is an explicitly political phenomenon in which some form of political space is opened up for minority groups. The core of Walzer's work is an analysis of five types (regimes) of toleration in history: multinational empire, international society, consociations, nation states, and immigrant societies. On top of this Walzer offers a brief discussion on some "interesting cases" the most interesting of which were the French and Canadian ones.

Where Walzer's discussion is interesting is his depiction of toleration as necessary but by no means idyllic hence Walzer writes that (p. 98)"toleration brings an end to persecution and fearfulness, but it is not a formula for social harmony. The newly tolerated groups, insofar as they are really different, will often also be antagonistic, and they will seek political advantage."

Toleration is, in short, absolutely necessary for democratic life. Moreover, it is never a done deal; minorities may become (political) majorities who may well need to learn the virtue/necessity of tolerating others.

Overall, On Toleration is a solid although I must say unremarkable discussion of the political aspects of toleration and the associated issues of liberalism and communitarianism with which Walzer has sometimes been identified.