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Handbook of Patriotism pp 1–16Cite as

Patriotism and Character

Some Aristotelian Observations

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Abstract

This chapter defends an Aristotelian account of patriotism that differs from, and improves upon, the “extreme” account of Aristotelian patriotism defended by Alasdair MacIntyre in a famous lecture. The virtue of patriotism is modeled on Aristotle’s account of the virtue of friendship; and the resulting account of patriotism falls between MacIntyre’s extreme patriotism and Marcia Baron’s moderate patriotism. The chapter illustrates how this plausible Aristotelian account of patriotism can avoid the dilemma that Baron has pressed against MacIntyre’s extreme account. It also illustrates why the virtue of patriotism cannot coexist with willful forms of ignorance. In its discussion of patriotism and ignorance the chapter draws on a recent study (2018) of the especially strong connection in the United States between patriotism and poverty.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA

    Noell Birondo

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  1. Noell Birondo
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Correspondence to Noell Birondo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Mitja Sardoc

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Birondo, N. (2020). Patriotism and Character. In: Sardoc, M. (eds) Handbook of Patriotism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30534-9_57-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30534-9_57-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30534-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30534-9

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Patriotism and Character
    Published:
    10 April 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30534-9_57-2

  2. Original

    Patriotism and Character
    Published:
    31 January 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30534-9_57-1

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