Document Type
Article
Comments
Ethics, vol. 93, pp. 372-390 (1983)
Abstract
Neutrality: a fighting word. Only neuters can be Neutral in politics. The fool who yearns for Neutrality indulges a special kind of silliness-from which libertarians and communards, Maoists and Straussians are mercifully immune. There can be no politics without vision, no philosophy without commitment. Neutrality is not just another political slogan. If taken seriously, it will destroy the most distinctive feature of politics: the impossibility of reducing it to a neutral science of social engineering. Until the liberal is disabused of his absurd search for a value-free politics, his "philosophy" will remain a contemptibly superficial, if surprisingly seductive, exercise in suppression.
Date of Authorship for this Version
1983
Recommended Citation
Ackerman, Bruce, "What is Neutral about Neutrality?" (1983). Faculty Scholarship Series. 152.
https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/152