Reinhold Niebuhr and the Epistemics of Tolerance

Abstract

This article examines Reinhold Niebuhr’s understanding of tolerance as a response, in significant part, to the epistemic distortions that inhibit the self’s comprehension of truth. His concept of tolerance emphasizes its subjective dimension, and involves a recognition of tendencies of the self to favor its own preferences and perspectives. Acknowledgment of one’s preferential perspectives requires self-critical scrutiny in light of what Niebuhr sees as the paradoxical character of truth. While he proposes a provocative basis for tolerance that deserves renewed attention, he does not address some of its practical challenges, such as distinguishing the tolerable from the intolerable. Nevertheless, Niebuhr’s notion of tolerance contributes to a deepened understanding of its grounding in the capabilities and constraints of selfhood.