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J Ethics (2009) 13:301317
DOI 10.1007/s10892-009-9067-x
Bernard R. Boxill
Received: 2 July 2009 / Accepted: 2 July 2009 / Published online: 18 November 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
Abstract Although Frederick Douglass disclaimed any patriotism or love of the United States in the years when he considered its constitution to be pro-slavery, I argue that he was in fact always a patriot and always a lover of his country. This conclusion leads me to argue further that patriotism is not as expressly political as many philosophers suppose. Patriots love their country despite its politics and often unreasonably, although in loving their country they are concerned with its politics. The greatest among them freely dedicate themselves selessly to the improvement of their country, partly because they love it, and partly because they are moved to take on great projects.
Keywords Abraham Lincoln American constitution
Declaration of independence Frederick Douglass Love of country
Love of fame Patriotism Thomas Jefferson
I
Early in his career Frederick Douglass often maintained that he had and could have no patriotism. His argument for taking this stand was straightforward: To have patriotism is to love ones country; consequently to have patriotism one must have a country; but he had no country; consequently he had and could have no patriotism.1 Douglass also used his claim to have no country to reject accusations of being a traitor. Again his argument was straightforward: A traitor is a betrayer of his
1 Douglass (1982a, p. 60).
B. R. Boxill (&)
Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USAe-mail: [email protected]
Frederick Douglasss Patriotism
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country; consequently a traitor must have a country; but he had no country; consequently he was not and could not be a traitor.2
Around the same time that Douglass was claiming that he had and could have no patriotism he was also often claiming that he did not and could not love the United States. 3 This claim did not follow from his claim to have no patriotism. That claim was based on his claim that he had no country; but it does not imply that he did not and could not love the U.S.. One can love a country...