Tolerance in Utopian Discourse

Abstract

In this article, the problem of tolerance is discussed with regard to some of the most important utopias in the European tradition, namely by Thomas More, Tommaso Campanella, and Francis Bacon. This allows us to show these works from the point of view of hidden paradoxes. Utopian discource, on the one hand, creates models of static, unchangeable, more or less homogeneous societies that remain separated from the world. On the other hand, tolerance means an attitude of openness towards diversity and, thus, towards dialogue as well as the possibility of change. Nevertheless, tolerance within utopias appears under certain conditions. The article attempts to show how it is captured in particular utopian works and what additional meanings it reveals. The problem of tolerance can be a criterium for criticizing the utopian projects. This is the case with the twentieth-century concept of an open society by Karl Popper and with critical statements about it made by Leszek Kołakowski and Ryszard Legutko.

Keywords

• tolerance
• utopian discourse
• open society
• absolute ethics