Spinoza and the Theory of Active Tolerance

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

This paper considers the politics of tolerance through the lens of Spinoza’s philosophy of immanence. The contention is that Spinoza’s philosophy of immanence provides us with a better conceptualization of the relationship between tolerance and power, and that it in so doing reinvigorates a theory of active tolerance that, for the most part, has been lost in contemporary democratic theory. Spinoza’s philosophy of immanence does so because it animates a sensorial orientation to politics, one that heightens our attention to the affective components of political life, enabling us to better theorize how all modes of existence, including the so-called passive ones, harbor a degree of power that can be mobilized for purposes that go beyond the “non-practice” highlighted by advocates and critics of tolerance in contemporary democratic theory. The paper develops this argument with ongoing reference to Marcuse’s critique of tolerance.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer1
TidsskriftPolitical Theory
Vol/bind41
Udgave nummer5
Sider (fra-til)687-709
ISSN0090-5917
DOI
StatusUdgivet - okt. 2013

ID: 135574486