There actually is no paradox if you think of this way:
Be tolerant of ideas that harm nobody.
Be intolerant of ideas that harm others.
“I’m gay.” <- Tolerable.
“I’m not gay, so I won’t date men.” <- Tolerable.
“I’m not gay, so I think we should kill all gay people.” <- Intolerable.
Every time you repost this meme, a philosopher weeps
how so
A friend I know who has a philosophy degree got visibly angry when she saw this, because she hates it when complex philosophical/political quandaries are “solved” with a paragraph, especially since all of said paragraph-long solutions start breaking down the second you start thinking about them.
Especially since the Paradox of Tolerance did not require ‘solving’. It wasn’t a mysterious problem waiting decades for a smart mind to find a solution.
The Paradox of Tolerance did not need dissolving. It wasn’t an unsolved mystery. It posed no obstacle to anyone who was capable of exhibiting tolerance.
And at its essence, it says exactly the same thing as this: that you do not have to be, and cannot be shown tolerance if you do not show tolerance towards others. Rephrasing it solves no problems, and changes nothing. Because the ultimate problem is that there are too many people in this society who demand full tolerance for themselves while being completely unwilling to show tolerance for others. And they won’t care whether you frame it as a moral standard or a social contract - it just gives them more ammunition for their culture wars.
So I think we can stop posting this on a daily basis now. It’s not a revolutionary new finding. It’s just another way of framing how society works. No more, no less.
