For Love of Country: An Essay on Patriotism and Nationalism - Softcover

Viroli, Maurizio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198293585 ISBN 13: 9780198293583

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1997

Synopsis

Reconstructing the historical meaning of the terms nationalism and patriotism, Viroli shows how the two concepts have been used within specific cultural and ideological contexts. He reviews the political thought of modern and early modern Europe, with particular emphasis on France, Italy, England, and Germany, and comes up with a fundamental difference between patriotism and nationalism. Viroli argues that patriotism and nationalism are two ideologies that aim to reinforce and channel two different and powerful political passions: the love of a common good and the love of uniqueness and homogeneity. The Patriot is a supporter of the republic, his enemies are tyranny and corruption; the Nationalist supports ethnic, cultural, or religious unity, and fights against impurity, contamination, and diversity. He concludes, therefore, that while it is morally acceptable to be a patriot, it is morally unacceptable, as well as unnecessary, to be a nationalist to defend the values that nationalists hold dear. This work will be of interest to students and scholars of political theory and political science, as well as to historians of political thought.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Nationalism and patriotism are two of the most powerful forces shaping world history. Though seen by many as two sides of the same coin, they can and must be distinguished. Reconstructing the historical meaning of the terms, Maurizio Viroli shows that the two concepts have been used for very different political and ideological goals. Over the centuries, the language of patriotism has been used to strengthen or invoke a generous and caring love of the political institutions and the way of life that sustain the common liberty of a people, whereas the language of nationalism was forged in late 18th century Europe to defend or reinforce the cultural, linguistic, and ethnic oneness, and homogeneity of a people. He brings to the surface the existence of an intellectual tradition in modern and early modern political thought which has been using the language of patriotism as a language of liberty and civic commitment and argues that it is to the intellectual tradition of republican patriotism that we ought to refer to find a powerful antidote to nationalism and a valuable source of civic responsibility for multicultural democratic societies.

About the Author:

Maurizio Viroli is Professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. He is the author of From Politics to Reason of State and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the "Well-Ordered Society".

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0198293585
• ISBN 13: 9780198293583
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216