The difficult subject of tolerance

Although the concept of tolerance is related to key philosophical issues (such as the nature and scope of human freedom), it is a relatively new concept in philosophy. Neither in antiquity nor in the Middle Ages was the concept used, but this does not mean that it is impossible to reconstruct views on the content we call tolerance today. The concept of tolerance belongs to the political discourse, where it functions in many different shades of meaning. It is often simply synonymous with the concept of democracy, and the adjective intolerant means as much as undemocratic. The term tolerance is also used to describe a certain way of responding to what is new and unfamiliar. In this sense, a tolerant person is someone who does not feel discomfort when encountering behaviour or views that he or she has never encountered before.