MORAL VALUE OF PATRIOTISM Patriotism denotes

MORAL VALUE OF PATRIOTISM

Patriotism denotes positive and supportive attitudes to a motherland by individuals and groups. The motherland can be a region or a city, but patriotism usually applies to a nation and/or a nation-state.

PATRIOTISM COVERS SUCH ATTITUDES AS: pride the in its achievements and culture desire to preserve its character and the basis of the culture, and identification with other members of the nation

PERSONAL PATRIOTISM IS EMOTIONAL AND VOLUNTARY: enlisting in the army, public service participation in the political process through voting or other forms of activism

respect for the flag or the honoring of veterans

GOVERNMENTS PROMOTE AN OFFICIAL PATRIOTISM WHICH HAS A HIGH SYMBOLIC AND CEREMONIAL CONTENT

Often official patriotism is highly regulated by protocol, with specific methods for handling flags singing the national anthem saying a pledge participating in a mass rally placing a patriotic bumper sticker on one's vehicle or any other way of publicly proclaiming devotion to the state

SYMBOLIC PATRIOTISM IN WARTIME IS INTENDED TO RAISE MORALE, IN TURN CONTRIBUTING TO THE WAR EFFORT. TYPICALLY, PATRIOTIC INTENSITY IS HIGHER WHEN THE STATE IS UNDER EXTERNAL THREAT

PATRIOTISM VS NATIONALISM Lord Acton Nationality is “our connection with the race” that is “merely natural or physical, ” while patriotism is the awareness of our moral duties to the political community

George Orwell Nationalism is about power: it wants to acquire as much power and prestige as possible for his nation, in which he submerges his individuality. patriotism is defensive: it is a devotion to a particular place and a way of life one thinks best, but has no wish to impose on others

Can patriots be strong critics of their nation`s policies?

Can patriotism be immoral?

In the 19 th century, Russian novelist and thinker Leo Tolstoy found patriotism both stupid and immoral. It is stupid because every patriot holds his own country to be the best of all whereas, obviously, only one country can qualify. It is immoral because it enjoins us to promote our country's interests at the expense of all other countries and by any means, including war, and is thus at odds with the most basic rule of morality, which tells us not to do to others what we would not want them to do to us (Tolstoy 1987, 97).