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The Problems of Liberal Neutrality in Upbringing

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Abstract

This paper considers the effect of political liberal principles on the children in society. Specifically, the paper argues that political liberalism faces a problem where parents or other adults want to pass on bizarre or dangerous beliefs to their offspring. This problem arises because in the political liberal framework the only limit on what doctrines a child may acquire is that the child becomes a reasonable citizen. Since this criterion is designed to be lax, this implies children may justly be inculcated with views that may undermine their welfare in later life. This presents political liberals with a dilemma. Ensuring that children are taught appropriate views requires narrowing the scope of political liberal principles, whilst keeping the broad focus of political liberalism brings with it unpalatable consequences when we consider the next generation.

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Notes

  1. By non-political, I mean all those aspects of education which are not relevant to the inculcation of the sense of justice, a settled desire to act in accordance with the principles of justice.

  2. A recent example of this is the case of Areni Manuelyan, who died because of a chest infection induced by malnutrition. Areni had been raised on a purely fruitarian diet. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1542293.stm.

  3. An important counter to my argument at this point would be to suggest that the wider purposes of political liberalism will be sufficient to protect children from the possible dangers of learning certain beliefs. This is an influential view within the literature and is held by theorists such as Eamonn Callan (1997) and Amy Gutmann (1995). If correct, this would undercut my argument as adduced. In reply, I argue that while political liberalism does indeed have implications for the character of certain views, these implications are much less significant than is often thought. As such, many views might still survive in a political liberal state which face the problems outlined in this paper. My arguments against Callan and Gutmann are made at length in Fowler (2011)

References

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Acknowledgments

This research forms part of a PhD project, generously funded by the University of York. My final year of the PhD was supported by a grant from the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, whose contribution made this work possible. I’d like to thank my supervisors Matt Matravers and Sue Mendus, as well as all the participants at the York theory workshop. A version of this paper was presented at a conference at the University of Manchester as well as reading group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I’d like to thank everyone who offered helpful advice at both of those events. Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to Harry Brighouse, discussions with whom clarified many of the ideas in this paper and indeed the rest of my thesis.

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  1. Department of Politics, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    Timothy Michael Fowler

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  1. Timothy Michael Fowler
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Correspondence to Timothy Michael Fowler.

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Fowler, T.M. The Problems of Liberal Neutrality in Upbringing. Res Publica 16, 367–381 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-010-9132-0

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