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Nico asked:
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Is it possible to implement the doctrine of liberty as well as to achieve social justice in multicultural
societies? how do we determine the limit of toleration in this global order? should we confront
illiberalism and illiberal practices?
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Liberty (the freedom of individuals to make their own decisions about what is good for them) and
social justice (the idea that we should make life as good as possible for everyone) are in inherent
tension and conflict within any society, homogeneous or multi-cultural. To increase freedom, we must
allow that some people can make decisions and do things that will make them better off than others
(e.g. accumulate wealth). To increase social justice, we must take actions that force people to give up
some things so that others can live better (e.g. impose taxes).
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Multi-cultural societies simply have more difficulty in balancing these, because some people in such a
society are likely to believe that certain actions are good — and are personal decisions (such as
foot-binding, or wearing high heels) — while others believe that these actions are harmful to certain
members of the society (e.g. to women) and should be banned. [Note that this matter is related to my
answer to Alison on gambling.]
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The limits to tolerance: a difficult one. There surely must be some limits to tolerance (that is, some
illiberalism in the name of social justice), and some confronting of illiberal practices (that is, some
insistence that people be allowed to do what they want, even if we think it causes harm or inequality).
The trouble is that it is always easier to see the harm in practices that are not part of our culture.
Which is more socially unjust: bringing up women to hide their faces behind veils; or bringing up little
girls to flaunt their sexuality at pre-pubescent ages? Americans are more likely to say the first,
Muslims the second. So I am very unclear about how exactly we are to set justified limits to tolerance
— it seems to me to require a great deal of dialogue and understanding of each other.
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Tim Sprod
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