Philosophy class: How tolerance makes nations vulnerable
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Specification:
Moral philosophy
‘Tolerance’ is not a topic explicitly mentioned on the specification, but it provides an excellent opportunity to test the claims of moral philosophers in more detail.
The liberalism of Mill, Bentham and Kant was in part motivated by thinking on tolerance following the religious upheavals that engulfed Europe immediately prior to and during the times in which they lived. Mill in particular focused on questions of freedom of expression in his work ‘On Liberty’. Aristotelian virtue ethics is also relevant as a theory that has plenty to say on the relationship between the individual and the polis (city-state).
Click to view the article below and then answer the questions:
How tolerance makes nations vulnerable
What do you think is meant by the term ‘the paradox of tolerance’?
Should the Swedish police have prevented Salwan Momika from burning a copy of the Qur’an?
On what grounds could it be justifiable to limit the freedom of expression of individuals in the interests of wider society?
How should a state respond to a news agency that appears to intentionally spread false information?
Jack Robertson, Queen Elizabeth’s School Barnet
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