Meningen med livet och den liberala statens paradox
NeutralityLiberalismMeaningLifePerfectionismPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
Liberal theorists typically argue that state action should not favor any particular conception of the good or meaningful life. On this view the defining characteristic of the liberal state is neutrality among rivaling ideas of the good. This thesis argues that state neutrality is impossible to maintain in practice. Two different versions of state neutrality; neutral justification and neutral aims, are used to analyze a wide range of political issues. It is concluded that far from being neutral, the liberal state favors individualistic and market oriented conceptions of the good life. Given that neutrality is difficult to maintain in practice, 'the paradox of the liberal state' arises, a situation where political reality and theory conflicts. The only plausible way to escape this paradox, it is argued, is to abandon the ideal of state neutrality and thus making the question of what is meaningful in life a legitimate concern for the democratic state.