Education and Patriotism

Abstract

Disagreements about patriotism produce polemics about patriotic education as well. Contemporary debates in political and moral philosophy among adherents to universalism and cosmopolitanism on the one hand and adherents to communitarianism on the other hand offer different arguments for and against patriotism. These political and moral arguments have already been used to reveal some problems with which education for patriotism is confronted. However, in this chapter, I illustrate some further stakes, challenges, and complexities as they emerge through the argumentation of Primoratz, Nathanson, Nussbaum, and Papastephanou. The first two discuss a fundamental argument from moral education that is crucial for the view that patriotism is a moral duty. For, if patriotism is a moral duty, then education for patriotism should be required; if it is not, it is either unacceptable or only permitted. In this specific context, therefore, a major stake of patriotic education is that it mostly depends on how convincing the argument is that patriotism is a moral duty. On the other hand, Nussbaum connects the conception of patriotism as love of country with political duties that decenter the Western self. In challenging Nussbaum’s conception of patriotism, Papastephanou reformulates patriotism beyond the duty and love framework with an eye to ethico-political vision. She thus tasks patriotism with obligations to others rather than merely to compatriots and exemplifies this in a way that defends a specific niche of critical patriotism in education. By presenting such diverse frameworks, this chapter does not aim to resolve the related issues and debates or to give conclusive answers. It aims rather to restore some of the complexities and difficulties that are often missing from clear-cut and simplified positions for and against patriotism in education.