Smith Ch. 12): This chapter, “In Defense of Patriotism,” is particularly challenging in the US today, with its tense culture war & political climate.
Yet Smith makes the extremely good point that in a country like the United States (and other countries too), those who serve in the military, as first responders, and in police and security forces, need to possess a sense of honor, and an idea of what is truly noble and just. This is what motivates them to serve in the first place. In large part this sense of honor, nobility and justice derive ultimately from a particular sense of patriotism.
But you should notice that there appear to be at least two different definitions of patriotism to think about here. One version of patriotism motivates (or should motivate) the military, police and first responders, while another version of patriotism appears largely to motivate persons who support certain cultural/political positions.
Your writing assignment is to formulate two different definitions of patriotism, one for each of these positions. Patriotism #1 = the sort of patriotism that motivates soldiers, first responders, etc.). Patriotism #2 = the other kind. Your objective is to create distinct definitions so that we can begin to distinguish between these two sorts of patriotism.
Which of these sorts of patriotism do you think is preferable and why?
Amartya Sen emphasizes how people tend to have very strong feelings about injustices that have occurred to them personally. Lets check this out. Pick out one of your own experiences (or an experience of someone close to you—a family member or friend), in which you consider something unjust to have happened. Explain what happened, what about it was unjust about it, and how this made/makes you feel.
Are you able to specify what principle of justice you think was violated in your case, drawing on what you have learned in this course.
