Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patriotism and the Value of Citizenship

  • Published:
Acta Analytica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. Of course, “patriotism” can be defined in more than one way. I define it as love of one’s country, identification with it, and a special concern for its well-being and that of compatriots. I believe this definition has two virtues: it is helpful in philosophical discussions of the subject, and is in line with much, if not most, common usage.

  2. Raz’s only example is friendship, while Scheffler looks at a range of relationships but expressly refrains from extending his account of special obligations to include patriotism or nationalism (2001, pp. 124–125).

  3. For an earlier critique of this position along different lines, see Klampfer 1998.

  4. One cannot be a patriot without being a good citizen, that is, without obeying one’s country’s government and its laws and fully participating in its public life (except, of course, if its laws and policies are seriously at odds with what one considers its true interests). But one can be a good citizen without being a patriot; for patriotism calls for special concern for one’s compatriots that goes beyond what good citizenship demands. Mason seeks to ground both obligations under the single heading of good citizenship.

References

  • Klampfer, F. (1998). Can the appeal to intrinsic value of citizenship really help us justify special duties to compatriots? In P. Kampits, K. Kokai, & A. Weiberg (Eds.), Applied Ethics: Proceedings of the 21st International Wittgenstein Symposium, vol. 1 (pp. 358–363). Kirchberg am Wechsel: Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, A. (2000). Community, solidarity and belonging: Levels of community and their normative significance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Primoratz, I. (2002). Patriotism: a deflationary view. The philosophical forum, 33(4), 443–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raz, J. (1989). Liberating duties. Law and philosophy, 8(1), 3–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheffler, S. (2001). Boundaries and allegiances: Problems of justice and responsibility in liberal thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, B. (1981). Persons, character and morality. In his Moral luck: philosophical essays 1973–1980 (pp. 1–19). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Andrew Alexandra, Simon Keller, and an anonymous reviewer for Acta Analytica for comments on a draft.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Melbourne, Australia

    Igor Primoratz

Authors
  1. Igor Primoratz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Igor Primoratz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Primoratz, I. Patriotism and the Value of Citizenship. Acta Anal 24, 63–67 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-009-0044-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-009-0044-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation