Tolerance

The term tolerance has undergone a major change in meaning in recent years. In the past, it had rather negative connotations.

Luther

Martin Luther (1483-1546) defined the Latin term tolerantia at the time as follows: „Tolerance generally means tolerating or respecting beliefs, actions, or practices that, on the one hand, are regarded as wrong and deviating from the norm, but, on the other hand, are not completely rejected and are not restricted.“

Engineering

In engineering, tolerance is defined as, „Tolerance refers to the state of a system in which a deviation from the normal state caused by a disturbing influence does not (yet) necessitate or result in a counter-regulation or counter-measure. In a narrower sense, tolerance is the deviation of a quantity from the norm state or norm measure that just does not yet endanger the function of a system.“ (physics.cosmos-indirect.com 2020)

Shift in meaning

Compared to these definitions, today the term is increasingly equated with acceptance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) wrote: „Tolerance should really only be a temporary attitude: it must lead to acceptance. To tolerate is to offend.“ However, the shift in meaning toward acceptance, which is particularly noticeable in sociopolitical life, also harbors dangers. This refers primarily to the claiming of tolerance in favor of one’s own interests (cf. Hastedt 2012, 8). In this context, there are also regular controversies in Germany, e.g., when it comes to religious symbols in public spaces (cross, headscarf, etc.). Where does tolerance begin, where does it end? What exactly does tolerance mean when there are conflicting positions – in people’s private lives or in the larger political context?

Paradox

The discussion about tolerance contains an inherent paradox. For example, the discussion about ethnic diversity deepens the differences between nationalities and ethnicities, although the discourse actually wants to level them out. According to Nassehi, however, cultural uniqueness actually comes more to the fore (cf. Nassehi 2002, 175 f.).

Tolerance is ambivalent and should always be viewed critically, because crimes or the violation of human rights must not be ignored in the course of tolerance. May forced marriages, child marriages, burning of witches and widows, genital mutilation be tolerated in the name of specific cultural characteristics? Can we speak of specific cultural characteristics at all?

Literature

https://physik.cosmos-indirekt.de/Physik-Schule/Toleranz_(Technology) [18.02.2020].

Hastedt, Heiner (2012): Tolerance. Basic knowledge of philosophy. Stuttgart: Reclam.

Nassehi, Armin (2002): The paradox of tolerance. In: Alfred Herrnhausen Society for International Dialogue (ed.): Tolerance. Diversity Identity Recognition. Frankfurt am Main.