Recently, the French opposition leader Marine Le Pen was convicted for embezzlement of funds, together with 27 others. As a consequence, she cannot participate in the 2027 French presidential election, unless she wins her 2026 appeal.
Quite a difference with the 2025 election of convicted criminal Trump.
The above is an example of the tolerance of intolerance a.k.a. the paradox of tolerance, as established by Karl Popper (1902-1994), an Austrian-British philosopher of science, in his 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies.
“The paradox of tolerance is a philosophical concept suggesting that if a society extends tolerance to those who are intolerant, it risks enabling the eventual dominance of intolerance; thereby undermining the very principle of tolerance.”
Source: Wikipedia
The consequences of tolerance of intolerance are visible in USA (eg, Trump).
France shows the impact of intolerance of intolerance (eg, Le Pen, Sarkozy).
The 2025 Romanian presidential election, following the (i) annulment of the results of the 2024 presidential election as well as the (ii) legal barring of a 2025 presidential candidate is a (very) interesting case of tolerance vs intolerance.
I’m in doubt on this German example of tolerance vs intolerance w.r.t. Hungary:
“The time has come to punish Orbán, Germany’s next government says. Friedrich Merz’s incoming coalition wants to press the EU to look at withholding funds and suspending voting rights from Hungary”.
Source: Politico, 31 March 2025
In my view, Karl Popper’s concept of the paradox of tolerance explains why he is “[o]ne of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers of science”. Despite its beauty, its complexity outweighs its simplicity. My examples illustrate that.
“Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”
A quote by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), “Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist”
Intolerance (2023) by Vance Edwards
artist, Facebook, lyrics, video, Weebly, no Wiki, YouTube
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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