Abstract
This paper discusses the ambiguity of the concept of tolerance, identified in the analysis of two of its defining features: a positive one, in which the other is conceived as an alterity to be recognized and taken in; and a negative one, which can be interpreted either by the emphasis on the tolerant, who sees the other as but a stranger or as someone whose existence in merely allowed, or by the emphasis on the tolerated, seen as the one who imposes one’s existence and one’s way of being, oppressing and neutralizing the tolerant. Furthermore, the paper highlights the unequivocal mediating role of school as the locus of identification, denunciation and fight against every type of exclusion and human oppression. Therefore, school places itself as a privileged stage for the promotion of tolerance as a synonym of recognition, and, also, of an education focused on reciprocity, solidarity and cooperation.
Keywords
tolerance; recognition; education