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A Critique of Pure Tolerance is a 1965 book by the philosopher Robert Paul Wolff, the sociologist Barrington Moore Jr., and the philosopher Herbert Marcuse. The book has been described as "peculiar" by commentators, and its authors have been criticized for advocating intolerance and the suppression of dissenting opinions.

Summary

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The book consists of three contributions, "Beyond Tolerance" by Robert Paul Wolff, "Tolerance and the Scientific Outlook" by Barrington Moore Jr., and "Repressive Tolerance", by Herbert Marcuse.

Reception

Academic journals

A Critique of Pure Tolerance received a negative review from the sociologist Nathan Glazer in the American Sociological Review. The book was also reviewed by the philosopher John Herman Randall Jr. in The Journal of Philosophy and L. Del Grosso Destreri in Studi di Sociologia.

Glazer described the book as "peculiar". He credited Marcuse with being open in his advocacy of intolerance, but accused Wolff of being incapable of distinguishing "facts from theory". He disagreed with Wolff's view that "The application of the theory of pluralism always favors the groups in existence against those in formation", maintaining that it was contradicted by many historical examples, including the civil rights movement of the 1950s, and described his views as "politically naive." He accused Moore of advocating violence, and wrote that Marcuse appeared to support measures such as breaking up meetings and destroying the literature of his opponents. He considered it fortunate that "the means by which he might impose his opinions are not terribly impressive."

Evaluations in books

The philosopher Maurice Cranston, writing in his anthology The New Left (1970), called A Critique of Pure Tolerance Marcuse's most popular and disturbing work to date. Cranston commented that the book was published, "in a peculiar format, bound in black like a prayer book or missal and perhaps designed to compete with The Thoughts of Chairman Mao as devotional reading at student sit-ins."

The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, writing in Marcuse (1970), argued that Marcuse's theory of the right of revolutionary minorities to suppress opinions is dangerous both because Marcuse's views were false and because "his is a doctrine which if it were widely held would be an effective barrier to any rational progress and liberation". He accused Marcuse of having "taken over from liberal and right-wing critics of the European revolutionary tradition a theory which they falsely ascribed to the left, but which was rarely held until Marcuse espoused it." He argued, against Marcuse, that the proper end of tolerance is not truth but rationality, and that Marcuse's proposals undermined the possibility of rationality and critical discussion. He also argued that Marcuse's case against tolerance made those radicals who espouse it "allies of the very forces which they claim to attack." Ronald Bayer, writing in Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis (1987), identified Marcuse's arguments about "repressive tolerance" as an influence on gay rights activists, who disrupted lectures by psychiatrists and refused to tolerate the views of their opponents as they campaigned for homosexuality to be declassified as a mental disorder.

See also

• Paradox of tolerance
• Tyranny of the majority

References

Footnotes

1. Wolff 1969, pp. 3–52. sfn error: no target: CITEREFWolff1969 (help)
2. Moore Jr. 1969, pp. 53–79. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMoore_Jr.1969 (help)
3. Marcuse 1969, pp. 81–123. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMarcuse1969 (help)
4. ^ Glazer 1966, pp. 419–420.
5. Randall 1966, pp. 457–465.
6. Del Grosso Destreri 1968, pp. 99–101.
7. Cranston 1970, p. 87.
8. MacIntyre 1970, pp. 89–91.
9. Bayer 1987, pp. 98–99, 227.

Bibliography

Books

• Bayer, Ronald (1987). Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02837-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cranston, Maurice (1970). The New Left. London: The Bodley Head. ISBN 0370003977. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• MacIntyre, Alasdair (1970). Marcuse. London: Fontana. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Marcuse, Herbert; Moore Jr., Barrington; Wolff, Robert Paul (1969). A Critique of Pure Tolerance. Boston: Beacon Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Moore Jr., Barrington; Marcuse, Herbert; Wolff, Robert Paul (1969). A Critique of Pure Tolerance. Boston: Beacon Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wolff, Robert Paul; Marcuse, Herbert; Moore Jr., Barrington (1969). A Critique of Pure Tolerance. Boston: Beacon Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Journals

• Del Grosso Destreri, L. (1968). "Review of A Critique of Pure Tolerance". Studi di Sociologia. 6 (1). {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Glazer, Nathan (1966). "Review of A Critique of Pure Tolerance". American Sociological Review. 31 (3). {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Randall, John Herman (1966). "Review of A Critique of Pure Tolerance". The Journal of Philosophy. 63 (16): 457–465. doi:10.2307/2024137. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• 1965 books
• Beacon Press books
• Books about liberalism
• Books by Robert Paul Wolff
• English-language books
• New Left
• Political philosophy literature
• Works about freedom of expression
• Works by Herbert Marcuse