Abstract
In the context of globalization and the integration of national minorities, the problem of tolerance has shown itself in recent decades to be one of the key problems of political theory. The author of what is undoubtedly one of the most influential current theories of tolerance is Rainer Forst, a member of the "fourth generation" of the Frankfurt School.
The article presents a critical response to his theory, but can also be understood as a means of obtaining a general systematic and normative orientation in the structure of the complex issue of tolerance, which has in the present day significant resonance in the public space. The interpretation, with the help of historical examples, illuminates Forst's distinction between the concept and the conception of tolerance, and then addresses the original normative justification of tolerance, with emphasis on the solutions presented by Forst that are associated with this concept of linked paradoxes.
There follows a critical assessment of Forst's argument, which points to, among other things, the issues arising from Forst's connection to the tradition of liberalism and constructivism, and so touches on the problems that not only underlie Forst's thinking, but also the very foundations of these schools of thought.