Межкультурная и социальная коммуникация: толерантность или любовь?

Abstract

The research attempts at solving the problem of tolerance compatibility with Orthodox values. The concept of tolerance arouses ambiguous feelings in Russia. A fairly common point of view is that tolerance is recognized exclusively as a Western value, being completely foreign to the Orthodox tradition. The article analyzes different approaches to the concept of tolerance and reveals its key meanings. As for the very concept of tolerance, the author agrees with those researchers who argue for this term to be clarified, since tolerance cannot be reduced only to being patient. Patience must be supplemented by the recognition of the ‘other’ as an equal. The analysis substantiates the argument that the real recognition of the ‘other’ and a different system of values as well as otherness as such is possible only in the format of a dialogue. The article reveals the ontological essence of love and examines the Orthodox understanding of love, which is opposed to tolerance by its critics. For the analysis of the Orthodox viewpoint the author relies on the patristic heritage, primarily on the works of the pillar of Orthodoxy, the monk Maximus the Confessor as well as St. Theophan the Recluse and others. The process of comparing a tolerant position with a love-based strategy of behavior reveals some points of convergence, such as: respect for the other, recognition of his right to be himself, refusal of violence against the individual, refusal to look at a person as a means to solve their own problems, irreducibility of a person to his beliefs or behavior. At the same time, the research leads to the conclusion that there is a significant difference between tolerance and love, with this difference being related to a diverse view of human nature. From the Orthodox point of view, love as a life position is a view of a person as a being endowed with spirituality that determines one’s essence. This is a view of man as a potentially divine being, while tolerance views man as a representative of the human race whose life is limited to the earthly matters. The author substantiates the conclusion about the meaninglessness of contrasting tolerance and love, since these concepts reflect the stages of a person’s spiritual ascent, whose top is love.