Abstract

In a 2008 essay ‘On Being Tolerated’, Leslie Green offers us a powerful and compelling strategy for soothing the sting of toleration: attempting to understand the meaning that the tolerated attach to their tolerated conduct. But understanding can only partially soothe the sting of toleration. Drawing on Gandhian thought and practice, this chapter suggests how we might round out the sharp edges of toleration even further, by extending and tweaking Green’s strategy. The chapter calls for a more holistic understanding of the tolerated that goes beyond understanding their tolerated conduct. The chapter expands on Green’s suggestion that toleration requires much more forbearance than is usually assumed, and calls for humility in dealing with the tolerated. Finally, to more fully soothe the sting of toleration, the chapter argues that we should advance from Green’s concern with fellowship to the ideal of fraternity.