Tolerance and Education: Concepts, Justifications, and Limits (MANCEPT Panel 2026)

Tolerance and Education: Concepts, Justifications, and Limits

Panel at the 2026 MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory, 2-4 September 2026

“Toleration” has long been a central concept in political philosophy, yet its role in education remains surprisingly under-theorised. Philosophers typically analyse tolerance as forbearance: refraining from interfering with practices or ways of life one disapproves of. By contrast, educational policy, public debate, and classroom practice often invoke tolerance in a thicker sense, associating it with open-mindedness and being “non-judgemental”. This divergence raises a set of questions about what tolerance should mean in educational contexts, and what schools can legitimately be expected to teach.

This panel will explore the concept, justification, and practical implications of tolerance in education. It will bring together work in political philosophy and philosophy of education to examine how tolerance should be understood when the subjects are children and young people rather than adults, and when the setting is the classroom rather than the public square.

One set of questions concerns conceptual analysis. In the educational context, is tolerance best understood as non-interference, as non-disapproval, as open-mindedness, or as something else entirely? Are these rival concepts in tension, or can they play complementary roles at different stages of education or in relation to different kinds of disagreement? Should tolerance be understood as a civic virtue, a moral attitude, an epistemic virtue, or a cluster of beliefs and practices? And how does tolerance differ from neighbouring ideals such as respect, recognition, and inclusion?

A second set of questions concerns legitimacy and justification. Liberal political theory has traditionally been wary of state efforts to shape citizens’ beliefs or attitudes. Yet schools routinely aim to influence how students think and feel about others, and educational policy often treats certain attitudes – racism and sexism, for example – as objectionable in themselves. When, if ever, is it legitimate for the state, acting through its educational institutions, to promote or discourage particular attitudes? And does the justification for tolerance in education rest on harm prevention, autonomy, or something else?

Third, there are questions relating to feasibility and efficacy. Can tolerance be taught, and if so, what does successful teaching look like? How should philosophical accounts of tolerance respond to recent challenges questioning whether tolerant attitudes can be taught?

Presentations are likely to take the form of 30 mins presentation followed by 25 mins Q&A. The Q&A will be friendly and exploratory, and there is no need for your paper to be near final form – it can be a work-in-progress. Participants will be encouraged to submit and read papers in advance, but this will not be a requirement.

Like all other MANCEPT workshops this year, this event will take place in-person only.

For information about the conference, see the conference website: https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/mancept/mancept-workshops/

Please note that registration, travel and accommodation fees must be covered by speakers themselves. Information on current registration fees will be available on the MANCEPT website. Bursaries are available to help cover the conference registration fee, and participants are encouraged to apply for these if needed (deadline 10th June).

Submission Guidelines:

• Please submit an abstract between 200 and 500 words.
• Please include this as an anonymised attachment.
• Send your submission to [email protected] with ‘MANCEPT 2026 Submission’ in the subject line.
• Deadline for abstract submission: Tues 5th May
• Notification of result: Tues 19th May

Please also feel free to reach out to Christina Easton, the workshop convener, with any questions.