Patriotism

Patriotism denotes positive attitudes by a person to their own nation, to its national homeland, its culture, its members, and to its interests. The word is derived from the Latin patria, fatherland, which has a much broader meaning than a geographical territory.

Usage and application

The word patriotism is used to describe emotions and attitudes, political views, symbolism, and specific acts, with respect to a nation, and to everything that is associated with a nation in the ideology of nationalism - its territory, history, culture, values, and symbols. Positive attitudes and actions towards other nations, or to non-national groups, are not generally described as 'patriotic', and they may be referred to by a specific name, such as pro-Greek philhellenism.

Related Topics:
Nationalism - Philhellenism

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Patriotism has connotations of self-sacrifice, implying that the individual should place the interests of the nation above personal interest, and in extreme cases their own survival. In wartime, patriotism is assumed to be the main driving force for participation in military operations, certainly if it is voluntary. In this context patriotism is seen as an explanation for the apparent suspension of the instinct for self-preservation, which implies that all humans would avoid a battlefield.

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Patriotism has ethical connotations: it implies that the nation is in some way a moral standard or moral value in itself. The expression my country right or wrong - a misquotation of the American naval officer Stephen Decatur (but actually attributal to Karl Shurtz, a nineteenth century German revolutionary who later immigrated to the United States)- is the extreme form of this belief. The primary implication of patriotism in ethics is, that a person has more moral duties to fellow members of the nation, than to non-members. There is no specific name for this doctrine, but there is for its opposite: ethical cosmopolitanism is the doctrine that no distinction should be made among humans, in the degree of moral obligation.

Related Topics:
Stephen Decatur - Ethical cosmopolitanism

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The term patriotism is generally used in the context of an already existing nation-state. It can be voluntary and emotional empathy, and it can be officially promoted by the government - usually both. Positive attitudes towards a national movement on behalf of a non-sovereign entity, would generally be described as 'nationalism'. However, some well-developed nationalist movements, such as Irish Republicanism and Basque separatism have a patriotic symbolic culture, similar to that of established nation-states. Since the existence and boundaries of nation-states are often disputed, their patriotism is often disputed too. In Northern Ireland two parallel patriotic cultures co-exist, one Irish-Republican and one pro-British unionist. In the disputed nation-state of Belgium, pro-Belgian patriotism is weak, and exists at an official level only.

Related Topics:
Nation-state - Sovereign - Irish Republicanism - Basque separatism - Northern Ireland - Unionist - Belgium

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Patriotism is often associated with ethnocentrism - the belief that the national or ethnic group is superior to others, and should be used as a standard to judge them. Patriotism often implies a relatively less positive attitude to other nations, and to internal minorities which are not considered part of the nation.

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The opposite of patriotism would be, strictly speaking, negative attitudes toward a nation-state. In practice, many patriots would see treason as the 'opposite of patriotism'. Modern examples of treason are usually related to conflicting national loyalties: people may see no reason to be loyal to the state that demands their allegiance.

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'Patriotism' is widely used as a synonym for nationalism, and nationalist as a near-synonym for patriot. Strictly speaking, nationalism is an ideology advocating the formation of a separate nation-state for each nation. Where 'nationalist' is is pejoratively intended, 'patriotism' is used as a defensive euphemism. It is also widely used as a euphemism for chauvinism, jingoism, xenophobia, hostility to immigration, and racism.

Related Topics:
Nationalism - Ideology - Nation-state - Euphemism - Chauvinism - Jingoism - Xenophobia - Immigration - Racism

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