# The Tolerance Paradox isn't **See Also:** [[Progressivism]], [[Critical Thinking]]. - The [Tolerance Paradox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance) is an artificial, albeit useful, [[thinking stone]] to a proper worldview. - Ought we or oughtn't we tolerate the intolerant? - This is a [[false dichotomy]]. - It's also a category error in that given the phrase "tolerate(1) the intolerant(2)", (2) refers to a set of things that cannot include the concept of tolerance without becoming 2nd order, which is very problematic. - So we're really talking about meta-tolerance here. - It's also a misattribution: being intolerant and acting intolerantly are two different things. - We cannot *know* if a person is intolerant except through their actions. - So the focus must be on the actions themselves. - What actions would indicate that a person is tolerant of intolerance? - Answer: actions that allow behaviours indicative of intolerance. - Should a civil society allow one to act intolerantly? - What we really want is a progressively increasing intolerance of intolerance, combined with support and education.