Tolerance, Sympathy, Respect

One common contemporary Moral Principle is 'Be tolerant', which requests non-interference in the activities of groups that one dislikes simply because they are different from one's own group. This is a very weak Principle, because it preserves both the attitudes that would generate interference, as well as the given social discord. A potentially more constructive Principle, promoted notably by Hume, as well as, and it cannot be repeated enough, Adam Smith, is 'Be sympathetic'. The shortcoming of this precept is that, as even Hume acknowledges, it depends on the existence of some cognized similarity between apparent strangers, which may not always obtain. Another problem with it, which is implied in Kant's 'Be respectful', is that kinship with another can be in terms of some ignoble characteristic. In contrast, Kant's insistence is that the object of Respect always be the Rational nature of another, which, is not only a 'higher' characteristic, but one that is a potential of all humans, meaning that the Principle can serve as the basis of a Universal social bond. But the problem with the notion 'we are all the same inside' which is common to both Humean and Kantian Morality, is that it is profoundly ungrounded. Rather, as Levinas, notably, has argued, the private experience of another is infinitely inaccessible to one, even if, as Kant argues, it entails structural similarities. Furthermore, it is, quite to the contrary, in public activites--conversation, collective projects--that people assimilate to one another. Levinas thus promotes the Principle, drawn from Buber, 'Treat another as a Thou.' But the limitation of this formula is that the only alternative in Buber's System to 'Thou' is 'It', meaning that the Ethical treatment of someone that one is not face-to-face with is impossible. In other words, it does not recognize as persons 'He', 'She', or even 'One'. Now, the concept of Individual that has been introduced here accommodates Others both present and absent, and plainly undercuts the stereotyping that is at the root of most intolerance. Hence, 'Treat someone else as an Individual' is a comprehensive potential antidote to the latter, and is entailed in 'Promote Evolvement' as a necessary condition.