Liberal Patriotism

Abstract

The idea of liberal patriotism may sound like a contradiction to some. For some, a love of country all too often grows into an illiberal passion. If liberals are committed to individual freedom and diversity, they should decline to endorse patriotism. As George Kateb (2006, p. 3) puts it, patriotism “typically involves a grave moral error and its source is typically a state of mental confusion.” History is replete with examples of political appeals to patriotism, which have justified dubious wars, violations of liberties, breaches of the rule of law, and racist persecutions of minorities. Liberals may be better off, therefore, without patriotism.