What Neutrality Is Not
Neutrality is not synonymous with indifference or ignorance. One can be actively engaged in a dispute, yet not publicly choose a side. The moderator of a debate is expected to remain neutral. Neutrality is not synonymous with silence. A mediator facilitates dialog between parties. Doublethink implies defending two or more contradictory ideas, whereas neutrality implies not defending any.
Neutrality is not synonymous with objectivity. In a controversy, an objective person will not remain neutral but will choose the side supported by the most objective arguments. Objectivity therefore requires a choice, which is often difficult, whereas neutrality requires no choice. Note that in journalism objectivity is considered synonymous with neutrality.
Read more about this topic: Neutrality (philosophy)
Famous quotes containing the word neutrality:
“My father and I were always on the most distant terms when I was a boy—a sort of armed neutrality, so to speak. At irregular intervals this neutrality was broken, and suffering ensued; but I will be candid enough to say that the breaking and the suffering were always divided up with strict impartiality between us—which is to say, my father did the breaking, and I did the suffering.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)