← Back to catalogue
Published

toleration

vr.tr.toleration · thing-q183225

Enable an agent to recognise toleration, assess whether objection and deliberate restraint coexist, and determine which responses remain available within the tolerator's authority and stated limits.

Thing Registry Activities and processes ACT.ACT

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions

Object and objection Establishes what is being tolerated and what the actor objects to.

Tolerated object

Locates the conduct or difference to which restraint applies.

Object specificity

Records the precise object and context without extending the attribution to an entire person or community.

  1. Which conduct, expression, belief, practice or difference is the actor allowing to persist? definition
  2. Which associated activities or people fall outside this particular toleration? boundary

Continuing objection

Identifies disapproval that remains present alongside restraint.

Objection evidence

Separates the actor's stated or evidenced objection from an observer's assumption.

  1. What does the actor judge objectionable about this object? definition
  2. Which statements or actions establish that the objection persists during the period of restraint? provenance
Power and restraint Examines whether noninterference represents a meaningful choice and what interference is withheld.

Interference alternatives

Distinguishes feasible intervention from hypothetical power and legitimate authority.

Capacity and authority

Records available interventions separately from whether the actor is entitled to undertake them.

  1. Which concrete forms of interference could the actor realistically undertake? action
  2. For each feasible intervention, what establishes or limits the actor's authority to act? boundary

Chosen noninterference

Identifies restraint attributable to a decision or established practice.

Restraint attribution

Tests whether observed allowance reflects toleration rather than ignorance, incapacity, delay or oversight.

  1. Which evidence shows that the actor knowingly withholds interference despite the objection? provenance
  2. Which alternative explanations for noninterference remain plausible? boundary
Grounds and standing Explains why restraint is maintained and how the arrangement positions those whose conduct is tolerated.

Reasons for restraint

Records the considerations supporting allowance despite objection.

Reason balance

Makes explicit how the actor relates reasons for interference to reasons for restraint.

  1. Which reasons does the actor give for allowing what they continue to object to? provenance
  2. What change in those reasons would warrant reconsidering restraint according to the actor's stated position? action

Position of the tolerated

Examines whether those affected depend on permission or can invoke an independent entitlement.

Permission and entitlement

Distinguishes the tolerator's framing from the standing claimed or held by those subject to it.

  1. Is the allowance presented as a revocable concession, reciprocal accommodation or recognition of an entitlement? definition
  2. Do affected people contest the actor's claimed discretion to permit or prohibit the object? provenance
Limits and revision Defines where toleration applies and how it may change.

Conditions of allowance

Specifies the circumstances within which objection is accompanied by restraint.

Toleration boundary

Records conditions and exceptions without assuming that every asserted limit is justified.

  1. Which settings, forms of conduct and conditions are covered by the allowance? boundary
  2. What observable evidence would establish that a stated limit has been crossed? measurement

Review and withdrawal

Tracks proposed changes to restraint and the process for evaluating them.

Revision grounds

Connects continuation, restriction or withdrawal to stated triggers, decision authority and opportunities to contest the change.

  1. Who may revise the arrangement, on what grounds, and subject to which constraints? action
  2. What notice, explanation or opportunity to contest a proposed withdrawal is available to affected people? action
Practice and effects Assesses how declared toleration operates and what it means for affected people.

Enacted restraint

Compares declared allowance with actual treatment of the tolerated object.

Declaration and practice consistency

Records instances of noninterference and intervention, including indirect penalties and inconsistent application.

  1. Across observed instances, when was the object allowed and when did the actor interfere? measurement
  2. Do indirect sanctions or selectively imposed conditions undermine the declared allowance? boundary

Experienced consequences

Records the practical security, burdens and wider effects associated with the arrangement.

Security and burdens

Examines whether people can rely on the restraint and which consequences are evidenced rather than assumed.

  1. What evidence shows whether affected people can rely on the allowance when deciding how to act? provenance
  2. Which benefits, burdens or harms to participants and third parties are attributable to this arrangement, and with what uncertainty? measurement
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.

Reported evidence

Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.

Kinds and varieties

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Identifiers and schemes

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Standards and regulation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Real-world use

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Typical measurements

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Failure modes and hazards

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Regional variation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

  1. Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of toleration this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Activities and processes
Entry kind
thing
Plane
ACT
Domain
ACT.ACT
Other names and narrower kinds
tolerance in islam, religious toleration, pain tolerance, superhuman pain tolerance

What it is Filled

Toleration is the practice by a person, group or institution of allowing or permitting a thing, person or idea despite disapproval, without necessarily endorsing it; this forbearance can coexist with, and be grounded in, recognition of rights.

In scope

  • The tolerating actor, the tolerated conduct or difference, and the people affected
  • The objection that distinguishes toleration from approval or indifference
  • The actor's capacity to interfere and decision to exercise restraint
  • Reasons, conditions and limits governing continued toleration
  • Changes in toleration and their effects on those subject to it

Out of scope

  • Approval, endorsement or celebration without a continuing objection
  • Biological tolerance, engineering tolerances and statistical tolerances
  • The complete moral or legal evaluation of the tolerated conduct
  • The full rights, jurisdiction or institutional authority framework
  • General conflict resolution, reconciliation and forgiveness

Why it exists Filled

Enable an agent to recognise toleration, assess whether objection and deliberate restraint coexist, and determine which responses remain available within the tolerator's authority and stated limits.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • There is an identifiable objection to the tolerated object; mere lack of interest does not establish toleration.
  • The actor allows the object to continue or deliberately withholds interference despite that objection; objection alone is opposition.
  • Some meaningful alternative to restraint is available; inability to interfere must be distinguished from a decision not to interfere.
  • The restraint has a discernible basis or policy; silence alone cannot establish whether toleration, ignorance or indecision explains noninterference.
  • Acceptance is qualified: allowing a practice does not by itself imply endorsing it, forgiving a past act or recognising a right to perform it.

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Present toleration as equal to respect or equal rights when it is not.
  • Use toleration to justify suppressing a minority.
  • Promote intolerance against a religious or other group.

Only with a human decision

  • Publishing analysis that judges a living community's practices as intolerable.

May

  • Explain the concept and its history, distinguishing toleration from acceptance or rights.
  • Describe documented toleration policies with sources.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Toleration protected dissenters, but it can leave minorities dependent on the majority's goodwill.
  • The line between what is tolerated and what is suppressed decides people's freedom.

Who is affected

  • Religious and other minorities
  • Majorities and authorities
  • Learners

Owners Filled

Steward

Nobody: a concept of political and moral thought held in common.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q451967 - registry parent class

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.toleration
  • Wikidata: Q183225 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183225)

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

  • Tolerating actor: Person, group or institution exercising the restraint
  • Object of toleration: Specified conduct, expression, belief, practice or difference in a stated context
  • Objection basis: Moral, religious, prudential, aesthetic, conventional, mixed, other or unresolved
  • Interference capacity: Available, constrained, unavailable or unknown, with feasible actions identified
  • Authority to interfere: Established, limited, contested, absent or unknown for each proposed intervention
  • Grounds for restraint: Respect, reciprocity, coexistence, proportionality, uncertainty, prudence, obligation, mixed or unresolved
  • Restraint mode: Explicit permission, deliberate noninterference, selective nonenforcement or another specified practice
  • Toleration status: Proposed, operative, under review, suspended, withdrawn, superseded or uncertain
  • Review interval: Elapsed days between scheduled reviews, or explicitly unscheduled

Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.

Recognition not applicable Not applicable

Not applicable

Toleration is a social practice whose defining objection and deliberate restraint cannot be established from visual appearance alone.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • Assess whether observed noninterference supports an attribution of toleration or requires another explanation.
  • Record the precise tolerated object, continuing objection and grounds for restraint.
  • Compare feasible interventions with the actor's authority and reasons for withholding them.
  • Clarify conditions, exceptions and review triggers without implying unrestricted approval.
  • Evaluate a proposed continuation, revision or withdrawal against evidence, rights constraints and effects on affected people.

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Treating an established right as discretionary toleration can expose its holders to arbitrary restrictions.
  • Unclear or selectively enforced limits can enable discrimination and unpredictable exclusion.
  • Restraint toward harmful conduct can leave affected people without adequate protection.
  • Mistaking toleration for endorsement can misrepresent an institution's position and undermine trust.

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, establishes rights to belief and expression that constrain state action regardless of official disapproval.
  • The Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, provides a normative framework for tolerance grounded in human rights.

Context of use required Filled

  • Toleration occurs in social, political, religious and institutional settings where a person or authority disapproves of something but deliberately refrains from suppressing it.
  • The concept helps distinguish deliberate restraint from approval, indifference, inability to intervene and compliance with another person's established rights.

Sources Filled

  1. A Letter Concerning Toleration - Classical liberal definition: civil magistrate must not coerce conscience; church and commonwealth have distinct ends.
  2. Toleration (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - Analytic definition (objection + acceptance + power to interfere), kinds, neighbours (indifference, recognition, endorsement), and regional/philosophical variation.
  3. Toleration (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  4. Declaration of Principles on Tolerance - International-law framing that distinguishes tolerance as a duty of states and persons from mere sufferance, and names 16 November as International Day for Tolerance.
  5. Wikidata item Q183225: toleration - identity and sense of the item
  6. Wikipedia: Toleration - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Does this registry entry cover individual acts, enduring dispositions and institutional policies equally, or should one be its primary unit?
  • Is practical capacity to interfere necessary for toleration, or can a disposition to refrain qualify when no intervention is currently possible?
  • When noninterference is legally required, under what conditions should an actor's continuing objection and restraint still count as toleration?
  • How should collective objection and restraint be attributed when an institution's members disagree or its enforcement practices diverge from policy?
  • Where should this model draw the boundary between toleration, respect, accommodation and endurance under pressure?

Machine files

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q183225/spec.json