For Love of Country?
by Martha Nussbaum, Joshua Cohen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joshua Cohen, Martha NussbaumEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-06-15
ISBN: 080704329X
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Beacon Press
Book Reviews of For Love of Country?
Book Review: a childish debate
Summary: 1 Stars
The book consists of an essay that promotes transnational identity over "patriotism". The essay is followed by a series of responses. The problem with the original essay and the responses both is that the entire debate is a childish affair.
A proper answer to the question raised would be that every individual has a relationship in their lifetime with a series of communties growing out from the local neighborhood to the world. The individual needs to help, be interested in and to deal with the problems of each community they are involved in. The problems of the local community cannot be ignored because they are small compared to a global problem and equally a global problem cannot be ignored by local attachments. The mature individual understands that multiple associations and alligances are inevitable in a lifetime.
The original essay is flawed in that it attempts to pidgeonhole "patriotism" into chavanistic nationalism. But it is possible to be a patriot (loyal and supportive of a community) without being a nationalist. The difference is that a nationalist sees the world in terms of competition between communities. But a patriotism centered around supporting the community when it is right and supporting the community in terms of improvement rather than competition is perfectly valid.
The problem with the "cosmopolitanism" the essay promotes is that it is totally rootless. Since there is no "world" to loyal to, what the author is calling for loyal to is transnational political movements and political causes. The problem is that unlike countries, there isn't just "one" of these to be loyal to. And loyalty to political parties and organizations has always been as problematical as patriotism. Political organizations, for example, tend to ignore the needs of a community in favor of broad ideological aims. They also have led to the same blind loyalty dead end as nationalism.
Most of the responses to the essay suffer the same either/or thinking as the essay itself. The only totally dismissive essay makes a poor argument that appeals to tradition and loyality in favor of patriotism.
The problems of the book are in essence the problems of modern academic thought. The wrong question is asked and the responses generated are inevitably empty and predictable.
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