Aug 13, 2020
Is tolerance a good thing and who deserves it?
In the first episode of this two-part series, Scott and Karl begin discussing Herbert Marcuse's 1965 essay "Repressive Tolerance."
Marcuse argues that the whole of society shapes what is politically possible for each of us, so any discussion of politics must attend to society as a whole.
Scott says, "For Marcuse, whether something is tolerable or intolerable is entirely based on whether that thing gives his group more power."
While Marcuse doesn't clearly provide boundaries to what is tolerable and intolerable, Scott and Karl dig in for themselves.
Scott says, "We live in a world of scarcity. We are never completely liberated and never can be... there will be compromises, things we must do to not perish. [Marcuse] doesn't carve out allowances for those things either."
Tune in and learn more about Marcuse's essay and the problem when tolerance becomes a partisan tool.