Beyond the Lockean Limits of Tolerating the Intolerable: What Could Solidarity Offer?

Abstract

John Locke, the father of liberalism, limits religious toleration to the safety and security of the state. To justify his argument, he appeals to people’s duty to love one’s neighbour and to do charitable acts. This appeal to solidarity has not received much attention. In this article I will look at his argument concerning toleration from that viewpoint and assess this appeal in the light of contemporary debates about tolerating the intolerable. I claim that with the Lockean appeal to justify toleration through the duty to love and do charitable acts, other interpretations than safety and security are possible. In contemporary discussion, the safety and security of the state does not seem to be a sufficient guarantee of solidarity and toleration. Often an important factor seems to be something else, such as gender equality. With the help of solidarity, the intolerable conflict may also be handled using other tools of liberal democracy rather than merely toleration.