A Critical Analysis of Patriotism As an Ethical Concept BY CLARENCE REIDENBACH A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF YALE UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY MAY 1, 1918 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I. THE IMPULSES OF PATRIOTISM Chapter I. The Impulses of Attachment 9 Chapter II. The Impulses of Antipathy 16 PART II. THE HABITUATION OF PATRIOTISM Chapter III. The Deliberate Habituation 27 Chapter IV. The Spontaneous Habituation 35 PART III. THE BELIEFS OF PATRIOTISM Chapter V. The Country as Protector of Self 45 Chapter VI. The Oneness of Country and Self 52 Chapter VII. The Intrinsic Value of One’s Country 57 PART IV. THE NATURE AND VALUE OF PATRIOTISM Chapter VIII. The Will to National Individuality 71 Chapter IX. The Nation as an Individual 85 Chapter X. The Ethical Value of Patriotism in the Concrete 99 NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY PREFACE Patriotism is a live issue. It is almost impossible for any one to be neutral about it. All men seem to feel that the issue involved is one that touches the fundamental interests of their lives. Patriotism is an important concept. But not all men take the same stand regarding patriotism. There is hot disagreement upon the question of its moral value. Some champion it as one of the noblest of all virtues; others spurn it as one of the basest. Therefore it is highly desirable to arrive at a fair judgment of the ethical value of patriotism. One of the chief reasons for the radical disagreement about the morality of patriotism is that there are widely different assumptions as to its nature. It is a sentiment of manifold varieties, and the word patriotism may carry quite different implications to different minds. The first necessary step, then, before one can pass an ethical judgment upon it, is to find out what the core of patriotism is.