Are Patriotism and Universalism Compatible?(Critical Essay‪)‬

Patriotism and Universalism When philosophers discuss patriotism, they usually talk about its relationship with moral universalism. The terms for the debate are set by Alasdair MacIntyre's classic paper, "Is Patriotism a Virtue?" (1) MacIntyre argues that while a communitarian will naturally regard patriotism as a virtue, a universalist (or "liberal") will inevitably regard it as a vice. Much of the subsequent literature sets out to show that MacIntyre was wrong on the second point, and that universalism and patriotism are, in fact, compatible. (2) Several different strategies have been offered for explaining what the compatibility amounts to and how it is to be obtained. My goal here is to disentangle and assess these different strategies, asking which of them are tenable, and at what cost. I believe that MacIntyre's original claim about patriotism and universalism is closer to the truth than is generally acknowledged, and that this is so for much the reasons that MacIntyre offers; the resourcefulness of his argument is underappreciated. That said, the tone of my remarks, unlike his, will suggest that any incompatibility is bad news for patriotism, not for universalism.