ABSTRACT
Extremism, like radicalism with which it is often identified, is widely held to be a bad thing. Conventional wisdom holds that political extremism is a growing problem. A body of literature in psychology, social science, and philosophy has emerged in the last decade, addressing the causes of this so-called problem and suggesting ways to solve it. I argue that all of this is misguided. The bien pensant view, which pervades our political culture, according to which terms like ‘radical’ and ‘extremist’ refer to something objectionable, is not only false; it is extremely harmful since it directs our attention away from what should matter – the content of people’s beliefs, rather than their position on the spectrum of social acceptability.
