Liberal Neutrality: A Reinterpretation and Defense

Abstract

This chapter develops an account of the moral foundations of minority cultural rights that revolves around two main claims. The first holds that the liberal state has a responsibility to be neutral toward the various conceptions of the good that are affirmed by its citizens. The second claims that, in certain domains, the most promising way for the state to discharge its responsibility of neutrality is by extending and protecting specific minority cultural rights. Although various qualifications and provisos are introduced along the way, and the rights that are justified are constrained in certain important respects, the argument will demonstrate why, in some contexts, specific cultural rights are indeed a requirement of liberal justice. The chapter is devoted to the first of the claims, exploring the meaning of neutrality and explaining why it is an important component of liberal justice.