Political Neutrality A Re-evaluation

by Merrill, Roberto; Weinstock, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780230285101
• ISBN10: 0230285104
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-08-13
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The topic of neutrality on the good is linked rather closely to the ideal of political liberalism as formulated by John Rawls. The basic intuition supporting the ideal of political neutrality is that no exercise of political power can be legitimately justified solely by the reason that one way of life is intrinsically superior to others. For a number of contemporary authors, the ideal of neutrality is the hallmark of liberalism. The contributors to this volume are internationally renowned authors and in several cases among the most prominent names to be found in contemporary political theory. The book should become a reference volume on liberal neutrality.

Author Biography

Roberto Merrill is a researcher in political philosophy at the Centre for Humanistic Studies, University of Minho (CEHUM), Portugal, and Associate Researcher at CEVIPOF (Sciences Po-Paris). His research interests include the relationship between art and morality, liberal neutrality and value pluralism, left-libertarianism, as well as neo-republicanism and multiculturalism.

Daniel Weinstock is Professor of Philosophy at McGill's Faculty of Law, Canada. He held the Canadian Research Chair on Ethics and Political Philosophy. He has published widely on the ethics of nationalism, problems of justice and stability in multinational states, the foundations of international ethics, and the accommodation of cultural and moral diversity within liberal democratic societies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; R.Merrill
PART I: GENERAL APPROACHES
1. Neutrality and Political Liberalism; R.Arneson
2. The Possibility and Desirability of Neutrality; P.De Marneffe
3. Perfectionist Neutrality; S.Wall
4. Expressive Neutrality; K.A.Appiah
5. Neutrality Toward Non-Controversial Conceptions of the Good Life; R.Ogien
6. Consequential Neutrality Revivified; S.Clarke
PART II: SPECIFIC ISSUES
7. Neutrality and Liberal Pluralism; G.Crowder
8. Perfectionism and Democracy; G.Sher
9. Neutrality, Public Reason and Deliberative Democracy; C.M.Macleod
10. A New Approach to Equality; C.Sypnowich
Index