Politics & Government
The Paradox of Tolerance in Multicultural Democratic Societies
Quick fact
The paradox was popularized by philosopher Karl Popper in 1945: an unlimited tolerance leads to the triumph of intolerance, so tolerance must be defended by being intolerant of the intolerant.
Why this is interesting
Democracies proudly defend free speech—but what if the speech is designed to destroy democracy itself? Can a society be too tolerant to survive?