No, the cutter clutch is a safety device: usually you can't start the engine unless it is disengaged, and someone has to be sitting on the driver's seat. There are microswitches under the seat and on the cutter clutch to make this happen.
The purpose of the cutter clutch is to make it as difficult as possible to hurt yourself. So, you can't run the cutter when you aren't sitting on the mower, but you can stop the cutter when you are moving the mower from place to place, in case you run over the dog.
