Toleration and Freedom from Harm: Liberalism Reconceived

228 Pages·2018·1.625 MB·English

by  Andrew Jason Cohen

Toleration and Freedom from Harm
Toleration matters to us all. It contributes both to individuals leading good
lives and to societies that are simultaneously efficient and just. There are
personal and social matters that would be improved by taking toleration
to be a fundamental value. This book develops and defends a full account
of toleration—what it is, why and when it matters, and how it should
be manifested in a just society. Cohen defends a normative principle of
toleration grounded in a new conception of freedom as freedom from
harm. He goes on to argue that the moral limits of toleration have been
reached only when freedom from harm is impinged. These arguments
provide support for extensive toleration of a wide range of individual,
familial, religious, cultural, and market activities. Toleration and Freedom
from Harm will be of interest to political philosophers and theorists,
legal scholars, and those interested in matters of social justice.
Andrew Jason Cohen is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgia
State University, USA. He is the author of Toleration (2014).
Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy
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104 Toleration and Freedom from Harm
Liberalism Reconceived
Andrew Jason Cohen
Toleration
and
Freedom from Harm
Liberalism Reconceived
Andrew Jason Cohen
First published 2018
by Routledge
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© 2018 Andrew Jason Cohen
The right of Andrew Jason Cohen to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cohen, Andrew Jason, author.
Title: Toleration and freedom from harm : liberalism reconceived /
by Andrew Jason Cohen.
Description: 1 [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2018. |
Series: Routledge research in applied ethics ; 104 | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017051252 | ISBN 9781138631588
(hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Toleration. | Freedom. | Nonviolence. |
Liberalism.
Classification: LCC BJ1431 .C64 2018 | DDC 320.51/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017051252
ISBN: 978-1-138-63158-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-20877-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Donna, who makes it all possible. Without her
encouragement, “management,” and love, I doubt
I would have written either this book or my first. She
doesn’t endorse everything I do or say, but listens to me
and accepts me—with all my many flaws. I hope she
doesn’t think she tolerates me. At least not often.

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
PART I
Conceptual and Grounding Issues 15
1 What Toleration Is Not 17
2 What Toleration Is 29
3 The Harm Principle and the Nature of Harm 47
4 General Defenses of Toleration 68
5 Freedom from Harm 83
PART II
Normative Issues 101
6 The Harm Principle 103
7 Rejecting the Harm Principle: The Sovereignty
Principle, Legal Moralism, Legal Paternalism 125
8 Toleration, Families, and Licensing 139
9 Toleration and Groups 161
10 Toleration Internationally 178
Conclusion 196
References 203
Index 214
Acknowledgments
The number of people who have helped me think about the ideas in this
book is staggering and I could not possibly remember everyone. Over
the years, the following have been helpful either in discussion or by
reading and giving feedback on earlier versions of pieces of the work
in this book: Andy Altman, Neera Badhwar, Jen Baker, Peter Balint,
Carrie-Ann Biondi, Dan Brudney, Allen Buchanan, Emanuela Ceva,
Tom Christiano, Andrew I. Cohen, Emily Crookston, Doug Den Uyl,
Johannes Drerup, Bill Edmundson, Don Fallis, Robin Fiore, Jessica
Flanigan, Bob Fudge, Bill Glod, Lauren Hall, Christie Hartley, John
Hasnas, John Horton, Steve Horwitz, David Kelley, Shawn Klein, Avery
Kolers, Michael Kühler, Chandran Kukathas, Hugh LaFollette, Har-
rison Lee, Jethro Lieberman, Rick Lippke, Loren Lomasky, Kay Mat-
thieson, Terrence McConnell, JK Miles, Dale Miller, David Miller, Fred
Miller, Chris Morris, Ryan Muldoon, Cara Nine, Hans Oberdiek, Nah-
shon Perez, Madison Powers, Jon Ravenelle, Henry Richardson, Steve
Scalet, Dave Schmidtz, Danny Shapiro, Anurag Sinha, Shanna Slank,
Chris Surprenant, James Taggart, Robert Taylor, Bas van der Vossen,
John Deacon Warens, Kit Wellman, and Matt Zwolinksi. All are deserv-
ing of my appreciation—and have it. I also discussed the ideas that take
shape here in front of a variety of audiences—both of students at Geor-
gia State University and of students and colleagues at other institutions.
I am grateful to them all. Of course, there were also numerous anony-
mous referees over the years. Speaking of which . . .
An earlier version of much of the material in chapters 1 and 2 appears
in my “What Toleration Is” (Ethics, Volume 115, 2004: 68–95). I am
grateful to Ethics for permission to use it.
An earlier version of some material in Section II of chapter 6 and much
of chapter 9 appears in my “What the Liberal State Should Tolerate
Within Its Borders” (Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Volume 37, 2007:
479–514). I am grateful to the Canadian Journal of Philosophy for per-
mission to use it.
An earlier version of much of the material in chapter 8 appears in
my “The Harm Principle and Parental Licensing” (Social Theory and
Acknowledgments ix
Practice, Volume 43, 2017: 825–849) and I am grateful to Social Theory
and Practice for permission to use it.
An earlier version of the material in chapter 10 appears in my “What
Liberals Should Tolerate Internationally” (Critical Review of Interna-
tional Social and Political Philosophy, forthcoming) and I am grateful to
the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy for
permission to use it.
I worked on the book while a Visitor at the McDonough School of
Business at Georgetown University in 2015; I appreciate the opportunity
John Hasnas and the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and
Ethics provided.
Finally, I was able to concentrate on and complete the book in the
2016–2017 academic year thanks to a generous grant from the Charles
Koch Foundation. The Foundation’s continued concern to foster aca-
demic work on toleration, free speech, criminal justice reform, and more
is a great boon to all of us. I greatly appreciate their support. Thanks
especially to Hussein Hussein, Will Ruger, and Mike Tolhurst.
It goes without saying (and yet I shall say it) that any mistakes are my own.