Kevin Vallier: Credible Neutrality – Philosophical Challenges

Kevin Vallier is an Associate Professor of Philosophy in BGSU’s philosophy department. He also direct BGSU’s program in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL).

Vallier begins by defining Credible Neutrality using two examples: Amazon and Twitter. Amazon has decided not to sell certain books based on self-imposed values. Twitter has decided to ban certain users for similar reasons. He then discusses the implications of exit and voice, and how each might be used in systems that lack credible neutrality. There is a brief discussion on DAOs and the broader tech ecosystem, and how governance tokens might increase the ability for users to use voice as opposed to being forced to exit systems they disagree with.

There is a lot of crypto discourse around credibly neutral systems, especially inspired by Vitalik’s writing. Vallier’s lecture provides a solid overview of the roots of credible neutrality in political philosophy and how builders and users in the crypto ecosystem can better understand and build systems that align with these values.