Toleration and Freedom from Harm
Toleration matters to us all. It contributes both to individuals leading good lives and to societies that are simultaneously efficient and just. There are personal and social matters that would be improved by taking toleration to be a fundamental value. This book develops and defends a full account of tolerationwhat it is, why and when it matters, and how it should be manifested in a just society. Cohen defends a normative principle of toleration grounded in a new conception of freedom as freedom from harm. He goes on to argue that the moral limits of toleration have been reached only when freedom from harm is impinged. These arguments provide support for extensive toleration of a wide range of individual, familial, religious, cultural, and market activities. Toleration and Freedom from Harm will be of interest to political philosophers and theorists, legal scholars, and those interested in matters of social justice.
Andrew Jason Cohen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgia State University, USA. He is the author of Toleration (2014).
Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com
97The Legacy of Kant in Sellars and Meillassoux
Analytic and Continental Kantianism
Edited by Fabio Gironi
98Subjectivity and the Political
Contemporary Perspectives
Edited by Gavin Rae and Emma Ingala
99Aspect Perception after Wittgenstein
Seeing-As and Novelty
Edited by Michael Beaney, Brendan Harrington and Dominic Shaw
100Nature and Normativity
Biology, Teleology, and Meaning
Mark Okrent
101Formal Epistemology and Cartesian Skepticism
In Defense of Belief in the Natural World
Tomoji Shogenji
102Epistemic Rationality and Epistemic Normativity
Patrick Bondy
103From Rules to Meanings
New Essays on Inferentialism
Edited by Ondej Beran, Vojtch Kolman, and Ladislav Kore
104Toleration and Freedom from Harm
Liberalism Reconceived
Andrew Jason Cohen
Toleration and Freedom from Harm
Liberalism Reconceived
Andrew Jason Cohen
First published 2018
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2018 Andrew Jason Cohen
The right of Andrew Jason Cohen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cohen, Andrew Jason, author.
Title: Toleration and freedom from harm : liberalism reconceived / by Andrew Jason Cohen.
Description: 1 [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2018. | Series: Routledge research in applied ethics ; 104 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017051252 | ISBN 9781138631588 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Toleration. | Freedom. | Nonviolence. | Liberalism.
Classification: LCC BJ1431 .C64 2018 | DDC 320.51/2dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017051252
ISBN: 978-1-138-63158-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-20877-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Donna, who makes it all possible. Without her encouragement, management, and love, I doubt I would have written either this book or my first. She doesnt endorse everything I do or say, but listens to me and accepts mewith all my many flaws. I hope she doesnt think she tolerates me. At least not often.
Contents
PART I
Conceptual and Grounding Issues
PART II
Normative Issues
The number of people who have helped me think about the ideas in this book is staggering and I could not possibly remember everyone. Over the years, the following have been helpful either in discussion or by reading and giving feedback on earlier versions of pieces of the work in this book: Andy Altman, Neera Badhwar, Jen Baker, Peter Balint, Carrie-Ann Biondi, Dan Brudney, Allen Buchanan, Emanuela Ceva, Tom Christiano, Andrew I. Cohen, Emily Crookston, Doug Den Uyl, Johannes Drerup, Bill Edmundson, Don Fallis, Robin Fiore, Jessica Flanigan, Bob Fudge, Bill Glod, Lauren Hall, Christie Hartley, John Hasnas, John Horton, Steve Horwitz, David Kelley, Shawn Klein, Avery Kolers, Michael Khler, Chandran Kukathas, Hugh LaFollette, Harrison Lee, Jethro Lieberman, Rick Lippke, Loren Lomasky, Kay Matthieson, Terrence McConnell, JK Miles, Dale Miller, David Miller, Fred Miller, Chris Morris, Ryan Muldoon, Cara Nine, Hans Oberdiek, Nahshon Perez, Madison Powers, Jon Ravenelle, Henry Richardson, Steve Scalet, Dave Schmidtz, Danny Shapiro, Anurag Sinha, Shanna Slank, Chris Surprenant, James Taggart, Robert Taylor, Bas van der Vossen, John Deacon Warens, Kit Wellman, and Matt Zwolinksi. All are deserving of my appreciationand have it. I also discussed the ideas that take shape here in front of a variety of audiencesboth of students at Georgia State University and of students and colleagues at other institutions. I am grateful to them all. Of course, there were also numerous anonymous referees over the years. Speaking of which
An earlier version of much of the material in appears in my What Toleration Is (Ethics, Volume 115, 2004: 6895). I am grateful to Ethics for permission to use it.
An earlier version of some material in Section II of appears in my What the Liberal State Should Tolerate Within Its Borders (Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Volume 37, 2007: 479514). I am grateful to the Canadian Journal of Philosophy for permission to use it.
An earlier version of much of the material in appears in my The Harm Principle and Parental Licensing (Social Theory and Practice, Volume 43, 2017: 825849) and I am grateful to Social Theory and Practice for permission to use it.
An earlier version of the material in appears in my What Liberals Should Tolerate Internationally (Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, forthcoming) and I am grateful to the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy for permission to use it.
I worked on the book while a Visitor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in 2015; I appreciate the opportunity John Hasnas and the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics provided.
Finally, I was able to concentrate on and complete the book in the 20162017 academic year thanks to a generous grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. The Foundations continued concern to foster academic work on toleration, free speech, criminal justice reform, and more is a great boon to all of us. I greatly appreciate their support. Thanks especially to Hussein Hussein, Will Ruger, and Mike Tolhurst.