The Concept of Neutrality with Regard to Gender and Religion: A Critique Exemplified by the Approach of Martha Nussbaum

This article is about the meaning and the plausibility of the concept of neutrality with regard to debates on gender and religion in political philosophy. As an example, it takes the Capabilities Approach of Martha Nussbaum, which is particularly instructive as she advocates neutrality between compr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion & gender
Main Author: Mügge, Cornelia 1983- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2015]
In: Religion & gender
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Nussbaum, Martha Craven 1947- / Neutrality / Religion / Political philosophy / Gender studies
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
NBE Anthropology
NCD Political ethics
XA Law
Further subjects:B Martha Nussbaum
B Political Philosophy
B Feminist ethics
B Secularism
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This article is about the meaning and the plausibility of the concept of neutrality with regard to debates on gender and religion in political philosophy. As an example, it takes the Capabilities Approach of Martha Nussbaum, which is particularly instructive as she advocates neutrality between comprehensive doctrines and, at the same time, attends to the challenges posed by gender and religion. Starting from an explanation of the meaning of the concept of neutrality in Nussbaum’s approach, the article focuses on objections against neutrality raised by feminist approaches. It discusses Nussbaum’s defence of neutrality and asks whether it is convincing or not, and to what extent. The article suggests a differentiation between neutrality as an ideal and the attribution of neutrality to actual political norms. It further argues that, whereas Nussbaum’s approach implies the latter conception, the former better corresponds to the basic norm of equal respect.
ISSN:1878-5417
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion & gender
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.18352/rg.10120