Does the assertion of cultural differences amount to a deepening of egalitarian dynamics within democratic societies ? This article questions the idea that pluralist exigencies concern the field of culture, and whether civic humanism is capable of meeting the exigencies of moral pluralism. The negative answer to these questions is argued from a critique of the implicit groundings of republicanism within an ideal of perfectionism. While the imposition of any obligations with respect to others as constitutive of moral rapports to oneself seems to implicit perfectionist collective ideals, this articles suggests that this can be avoided by adopting a ‘thicker’ conception of the neutrality of the state.