A Critique of Pure Tolerance
Repressive tolerance is the title of an essay by the German sociologist and philosopher Herbert Marcuse. This paper is part of the 1965 published critique of pure tolerance.
Content
In this essay to Repressive tolerance, appropriated to the students of Brandeis University, Marcuse formulated thoughts had great influence on the student movement in the U.S. and in Europe. In it, he describes the developed since the beginning of the modern era idea of tolerance as a partisan goal, as subversive, liberating concept and just such a practice. Currently, there is no power, authority or government that would implement a liberating tolerance. On the contrary, the type of practiced tolerance strength, for example, the power of destructive violence in Vietnam.
Marcuse, however, formulated a utopian society idea, in which the individual lives freely in harmony with others and in public and private welfare is guaranteed for all. It was necessary to bring about a society in which man is not enslaved by institutions. The currently prevailing tolerance, even in democratic states, accept an aggressive policy, armament, chauvinism and discrimination on racial or religious grounds.
According to Marcuse exists an objective truth, which is to be determined by the discussion of the people in the form of individuals and members of political and other organizations the policy of a future democratic society. This idea of freedom preclude an unqualified tolerance to retrograde movements for Marcuse. Impartial tolerance will protect in reality the already established machinery of discrimination. In his essay, he legitimized this program with the observation: the telos of tolerance is truth.
For example, while the Socialist German Student League Marcuse takes up thoughts and therefore justified the pursuit of a better new social order, accuse critics Marcuse that he rejects the idea of political pluralism in favor of partisanship. Is rejected in particular Marcuse's claim that intolerance should also be practiced against the thinking, the mind and the word ( intolerance, especially against the Conservatives, and the political right ).