Tolerance and its discontents

This is for those of you who've always proclaimed, but never felt entirely comfortable with the logical inconsistency of, the position that you are tolerant of all things but intolerance. Welcome to the built-in hypocrisy of the liberal philosophical tradition. Not that that's a bad thing. Bad's relative. In this book review, from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Stanley Fish nails the problem. It then goes one better by examining the problem with identifying the problem of tolerance. A wonderful, provocative piece, but not one I could read with the television on in the background. [This] account of liberal tolerance tells us how it works not only in this instance, but whenever and wherever it is deployed; but it doesn't tell us whether liberal tolerance is a good thing, or whether there is something better. ... Is the relativity or ambiguity of autonomy the answer to any question posed by circumstances in the world? If there is a particular problem to resolve or decision to make, is saying, "Autonomy is relative and ambiguous" going to help or point you in a particular direction? I think not. ..