MacIntyre and the Anatomy of Patriotic Morality

Abstrakt

Patriotism has recently become one the most important concepts of contemporary political philosophy. Its contemporary practical and theoretical poignancy has been vividly presented in Alasdair MacIntyre’s discussion of patriotic morality. He presents conflicting approaches and views of the patriotic morality as polarized around two moral categories: virtue and vice. The paper is devoted to the discussion of the relation between liberal tradition and a concept of patriotism which would be acceptable within its discourse on the one hand, and, on the other, the contents of patriotism within the communitarian tradition. The aim of the paper is to answer a question whether, from the perspective outlined by MacIntyre, patriotism is compatible with liberal values, and whether the patriotic morality will necessarily generate an internal conflict within that tradition.