R: Tolerance is a Virtue

November 6th, 2018 at 7:30p.m. in the Berkeley Mendenhall Room

Charles Le Brun, The Martyrdom of St. Andrew, ca. 1646–47, oil on canvas, 98.4 × 80 cm, Getty Center, Los Angeles.

Tolerance has dominated the national dialogue, covering significant issues from marriage to religion. In an age where "Coexist" bumper stickers belong on every Prius and the rhetoric of relativism pervades academic life, we must grapple with the implications of a culture of liberalism which prioritizes acceptance even over reason. What differences between people should we tolerate, both as individuals and as a society? Is tolerance a good in itself, a virtue, or simply the means to another end?