Discourse Ethics and the Normative Justification of Tolerance

Abstract

The following paper considers the extent to which discourse ethics can adequately respond to Habermas' own call for normative justification for the expectation of tolerance. It concludes that discourse ethics is able to lend its services to the flagging fortunes of the idea of toleration, not by seeking to underscore this idea with rationally compelling argumentation, but by offering insights into the possibilities opened up to a life which accepts this principle.