An “open society”, as I understand the term, is one in which guarantees certain basic rights that promote the free exchange of ideas and information. Rights like freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion are essential to open society.
Like many people in the U.S., and in the West generally, I’ve been raised with the idea that an open society is the best kind of society. And in a lot of ways I think it is. By definition the opposite, a closed society, involves some degree of “thought control”, indoctrination enforced by social, political, and economic consequences.
But the very idea of an open society is somewhat of an idealization. No one in their right mind would suggest that there ought to be no social censure for certain beliefs. We shouldn’t allow someone to practice engineering who doesn’t know the multiplication table. We shouldn’t allow someone to practice medicine who doesn’t have extensive training in human physiology. No society, not even an open one, can be an “anything goes” society.