The book includes eight essays on patriotism selected from recent writings by philosophers and political theorists. Patriotism is a traditional theme in literature. Its presence in individual and social psychology and its influence on individual and group behaviour have been explored in social science and historical writing. Philosophers view patriotism primarily as an important instance of particular attachment, such as that to family, friends, homeland, or nation. The moral status of particular attachments and loyalties is a contested issue. If impartiality is a central trait of the moral point of view; if justice, in particular, enjoins us to be impartial; if common human solidarity is a moral value – may we, then, give greater weight to the interests of those who are, in some sense, “our own”, than to the interests of other humans? Clearly, we may do so in some cases, but does that apply in the case of our country and compatriots too?
Another important issue, debated mostly by political theorists, is whether patriotism is a necessary precondition of a stable and well-ordered polity. If so, will some version of a “thin”, purely political patriotism suffice, or is there a need for a richer type of love of and loyalty to country that includes some “prepolitical” (ethnic and cultural) components? The book explores all these and other topical issues to do with patriotism as a subject distinct from – albeit related to – that of nationalism.