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Toleration in T. Nagel’s “Equality and Partiality” Essay
Nagel’s Toleration addresses the complexity of the phenomenon of toleration in society. The author presents several important arguments related to the topic of the chapter and shares the relevant information to support his view. Nagel explores the issues related to the legal enforcement of the principles related to people’s values. He shows that the approach to defining the state’s power to force the citizens to be tolerant in certain areas should be thoughtful and well-designed. He reveals certain difficulties that can be met on the way to the popularization of toleration.
For example, he emphasizes that the conflict may arise when defining the values that should guide the government. He argues that the state has the right to enforce only those rules that are based on the values accepted by all of the citizens. The situation when all people have the same beliefs is not possible due to the variety of opinions. Therefore, the state should remain neutral (Nagel 1991). As the government should not force people to follow the laws that do not pay attention to their values, it should remain “impatient” to the issues that raise certain conflicts of interests and worldviews in the society (Nagel 1991, p. 157).
Nagel shows that the government should show respect to all kinds of opinions existing in society. He also emphasizes that the person that thinks that certain values are good should not consider the person that views them differently as bad or irrational one. The author has managed to create a piece of information that encourages the readers to analyze their attitudes to toleration and see it from a different side.
Reference List
Nagel, T 1995, Equality and partiality, Oxford University Press, New York.
