Alasdair Macintyre's brand of country-loving strikes me as a bit disturbing. It amounts to a support of local and weird (because of wrong thinking) attitudes of submission to tradition. What's (related to what's right and wrong) excellent or honest and good about loving one's own team? And these attitudes can and do quite easily turn ugly and hateful and warlike. I'd even go so far as to say that this brand of country-loving is a moral failing, a good thing/a good quality spoiler and, insofar as it makes up a lack of concern for non-Americans, a case of arrested development (becoming smarter about what's right and wrong). In Macintyre's ethical representation, patriotism should be seen as being a part of a community and being concerned with …show more content…
Certainly, the "my country - right or wrong" (believing that your country is the best) that is often seen could not be reasonable in Macintyre's outline. As for the statement (that someone has done something bad) of particularism: one of the limits of being human is that we are born at a particular time, and live in a particular place. We are not superior. So, we have relationships with those around us - with our families and the communities we live in. These relationships are greater than our bond with the rest of people/(the kindness of people), and therefore have greater power. This is not to say that we are not concerned with the welfare of people around the world - it is a question of what weight do we give these concerns. For example, we are often more worried about the configurations of the tax systems in our own communities than in other communities, such as Afghanistan or Iraq. A (belief that all people will be saved by God) would, in way of thinking/basic truth/rule, object to this but it is hard to argue (since one could legally/really and truly as what business of ours is it to interfere in these relationships). Another aspect …show more content…
I think it is correct to say that on an Aristotelian explanation the clusters we belong to can necessitate our devotion and that they form us, but for Aristotle political association is (having to do with figuring out the quality of things without measuring them with numbers) different from, say, the bingo league. In fact, most of book 1 of the Politics is dedicated to showing how politics is basically different from other forms of association. If we lose track of this difference I think there is the danger of making the mistake the (very old time in history) made of understanding Aristotle to be calling man a "social animal" instead of a "political
Johnson" by William J. Brennan imparted that you cannot force people to have national pride because you should be allowed to determine what you want to expose because of the First Amendment. On page 16 lines (37-38) it states "The way to preserve the flags special role is not to punish those who feel differently about these matters." People should not be punished for their own opinion even if it is rebellious to the way others show their own point of view. Lines (10-13) on page 16 states " The problem is whether, under our Constitution, compulsion as here employed is a permissible means for its achievement." This suggested that you should be allowed not forced to express your national pride. This goes along with topic sentence because you need to tolerate the way people show if they disagree with your personal
Adam’s proposes emphasis on patriotism to advise her son on having a positive attitude and doing what is best, throughout her letter. Models that is, “you will not swerve from her dictates, but add justice, fortitude, and every manly virtue,” you will become a figure for everyone to admire and look upon. Adam’s constructs these words to get her son to understand that instead of just avoiding problems and making people angry, you need to face and confront them. When writing, “adorn a good citizen, do
American beliefs and opinions give a great understanding of what an American values. The want and need for freedom is described in many different ways based on origin or social beliefs. The main backbone of America today is freedom. Through the building of an American empire everyone can’t come to an understanding of what it is to be equally free. By comparing and contrasting the perspectives of Patrick Henry’s speech to the “Virginia Convention,” to take up arms and fight for our freedom. Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” who feels it’s time to end slavery. It is clear that the struggles of the American story are still prevalent and America has not yet found a way for freedom for all.
Jensen presents two alternative definitions of patriotism in his speech. The first one suggests that patriotism is to
The most important characteristic to have is self-fulfillment. Jose Marti’s essay stresses the importance of self pride and nationalism. My personal interpretation to his statement is that everyone should be in agreeance to their own lifestyle. The government will never be in accordance to every single person’s wishes, but we as rightfully opinionated people have the choice to agree or
In An Essay On the Duties of Man Addressed to Workingmen, Mazzini discusses the duties that people have toward humanity, but also the importance of countries and one’s commitment to their own country. By discussing the commitments of men to not only humanity as a whole, but also their individual countries, Mazzini risks contradicting himself should the duties he demands of men to their co-nationals prevent them from achieving their duties to humanity as a whole. Mazzini comes close to doing this in his essay, but his description of the relationship between one’s commitment to one’s country and humanity as a whole allow him to escape this contradiction. Though Mazzini makes many statements about one’s responsibility to their country and countrymen, these duties allow the country as a whole to better help humanity at large, making the commitments compatible with the duties to humanity. To understand the relation between Mazzini’s duties to humanity and responsibilities to one’s country, we must first understand what Mazzini considers one’s duties to humanity.
Issue one from the McKenna text presents two divergent political philosophies from Humanities professor Wilfred M. McClay and Historian Howard Zinn regarding the concept of American exceptionalism. McClay and Zinn provide convincing arguments as they support their contrasting viewpoints with key examples from American history on the question, “Should Americans believe in a unique American mission?” On one hand, McClay offers a belief in the unique American “mission” as interconnecting with our Founding Fathers through divine providentialism. On the other hand, Zinn rejects this notion asserting that restraint from the mythical belief of American exceptionalism will suppress combative desires.
Politics may have been the tool by which man creates good, but politics does not mean the same thing as living a political life. Aristotle claimed that those who engaged in a political life do so out of vanity in order to gain personal honor. Because this only serves to inflate a single person's ego, this is considered to be an empty and vain course of action. Two other ways of life that Aristotle believed were
A lion does not have the emotional capacity to feel sorry for its prey during the chase. Evolutionarily, this is an advantage. How would a lion ever be able to survive when he hesitates to let his ethics debate the morality of killing an antelope?
In "The Politics", Aristotle would have us believe that man by nature is a political animal. In other words, Aristotle seems to feel that the most natural thing for men to do is to come together in some form of political association. He then contends that this political association is essential to the pursuit of the good life. Finally he attempts to distinguish what forms of political association are most suitable to the pursuit of this good life. In formulating a critique of "The Politics", we shall first examine his claims as to what is natural to man and whether the criterion of the natural is sufficient to demonstrate virtue. We shall then examine what it is about political association that
Aristotle's view of politics is expressed in his writing, Politics. Rather than focusing on the individual Aristotle is more intent on the regime, and the highest goal, justice. Another main point is that people must live together, thus having a united regime. The family unit was highly respected, for the household is where people originate. Aristotle's political science encompasses the two
What Aristotle called ‘Polity’ was based on political power and the best practical government. This notion differed from Ancient Greek democracy.
In Greek Mythology, the power of right is passed by kinship in generations, and people’s belief in gods leads their life and their acts show gods’ will. In the meanwhile, politics originally indicates certain relationships are between politics and groups of individuals. Moreover, politics is always referred to methods, including the purpose and the use of power, for addressing impacts on the tendency of those individuals’ performance, as well as their engagement and activities in civic affairs. In result of that, theories of political behavior are aimed at explicating the influences that define an individual’s behaviors, opinions, and participation in civic
Eliciting emotional responses is often used to extend human rights and can be done without infringing on existing rights. The legitimacy of these emotional influences depends on their methods, particularly which emotions are utilized. Patriotism is a necessary start to a movement like this where the aim is to emotionally bond to strangers and entire separate communities in order to recognize their rights. When emotions are legitimately used, they won’t infringe on human rights because the emotions will modify a community’s collective perception on what their rights are. While some privileges of the wealthy, high class, and high status would be forfeited, the new emotional connection to other communities should cause them to value others’ rights above their own privileges.
Not everyone will agree with Aristotle's political theory, but it is essential to understand the principals that underline the new political theories. Aristotle's politics is one of the most influential books of political philosophy. His main ideology consists in that a man is by nature a political animal because he can reason and communicate with others, therefore, has the potential to alter or change his living conditions for better because he can recognize the difference from right or wrong. Aristotle is proposing that a man with reason has to base his approach towards politics on the fundamental concept of good for human beings. However, based on the evaluation of modern politics, we can conclude that the idea of politics aiming at