 The appeal of the Both Interpretation of the idea of neutrality is undeniable. But it invites the conflation of neutral monism with other theories from which is should be distinguished. First, there is the family of theories that attribute fundamental and irreducible mental and fundamental and irreducible material properties, or aspects, or sides to every basic entity (see section  8.3).  The Both Interpretation of neutral monism turns it into a version of the dual-aspect theory—a theory that is often viewed as a form of dualism. Second, the Both Interpretation of neutrality makes it difficult to distinguish neutral monism from the identity theory. According to the identity theory “being a pain” and “being a c-fiber stimulation” pick out the very same property (not two distinct and irreducible properties, aspects, etc.). A natural way to state this idea is to say that a given property or state is both mental and physical. And this then invites confusion with neutral monism, stated in terms of  (5)—the  Both Interpretation. The Neither Interpretation of neutrality allows us to understand neutral monism as a distinct type of theory. Because of its ability to distinguish views that are run together on the Both Interpretation, the Neither Interpretation is preferable.