On Political Tolerance

Political tolerance, as a kind of political virtue, is different from the virtue of personality. It treats the others'different beliefs, concepts and benefit pursuing through an attitude of understanding and friendship. Meanwhile, it can't be regarded as temporary forgiveness and compromise or accommodating beyond principles. It can only exist in modern society marked by equal relations. We can't find it in an authoritarian society because it is a kind of moral virtue in politics characterized by universality in space-time and reciprocity between political subjects. That means, political tolerance is proposed and demanded only in commodity economy, democratic politics and multi-culture in order to realize common benefit. It is not only a social historical phenomenon, but also shows the trend of social development and the people's common aspiration. It belongs to the ethics category. As a result, it can help the people to protect the civil rights, maintain public order and pursue the common value. It has four moral requirements including justice, equality, respect and compromise. Justice is a basic moral demand and it indicates that political tolerance is based on insisting on the justice. Compromise is the lowest moral demand which means to communicate and consult in order to reach a common view with justice. Compromise is not a temporary concession or the only part of essence of democracy. It is not the same as "the soul of politics" by Acton. Political tolerance finds its expressions in democracy. Political tolerance is dyed with problems and limitations of in modern society, especially discrimination and suppressing currently. It proves that realizing political tolerance needs some special requirements and limits. In order to realize political tolerance, we should cultivate political culture of toleration and perfect the system of political tolerance and form person moral character. The limit will be decided by the social conditions, society justice system, and authority operation and the citizen's quality. So, realizing political tolerance is a systematic project and involves many aspects. Building a real political environment of tolerance is the precondition.