Liberal Neutrality

Originally published in 1989 Liberal Neutrality approaches the recommendation of neutrality by confronting the abstract prescription (that we should be neutral) with the implications for particular people and institutions. This not only identifies what neutrality involves logically, but also exposes the practical difficulties that may be encountered in pursuing it. In some cases, such close examination shows that neutrality is not desirable, and in others that it is attainable only within certain limits. Although neutrality has become a fashionable term in political theory, this is the only volume to subject the idea to systematic scrutiny. It will be useful not only to specialists in diverse disciplines – political scientists, philosophers, sociologists, lawyers and educationalists.

Acknowledgements 1. Liberalism and Neutrality, Robert E. Goodin and Andrew Reeve 2. The Ideal of the Neutral State, Peter Jones 3. The Neutrality of the Market, A.T. O’Donnell 4. Legislation and Moral Neutrality, Jeremy Waldron 5. Neutrality and the Civil Service, Adrian Ellis 6. Neutrality in Education, Peter Gardner 7. Neutrality and the Media, Ken Newton 8. The Neutrality of Science and Technology, Hugh Ward 9. Do Neutral Institutions Add up to Neutral State, Robert E. Goodin and Andrew Reeve About the Contributors Index