VIRTUE NATIONALISM

307 Pages·2007·1.33 MB·English

by  Abigail Aguilar

VIRTUE NATIONALISM:
AN ARISTOTELIAN DEFENSE OF THE NATION
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate
School of The Ohio State University
By
Abigail Pfister Aguilar, M.A.
The Ohio State University
2007
Dissertation Committee:
Approved by
Professor Daniel Farrell, Adviser
Professor David Hahm
__________________________
Professor Gregory Jusdanis Adviser
Philosophy Graduate Program
Copyright by
Abigail Pfister Aguilar
2007
ABSTRACT
Nationalism, it is argued, is a bad ideology, responsible for much of the
political problems of the modern world. The primary proofs offered to support this
claim are empirical, in the myriad reprehensible acts of actual nations. Yet in this
approach critics of nationalism fail to take into account the many benefits that
arise from nationalism. Moreover, the criticism neglects the possibility that
nations may produce, overall, more benefits than harm.
A stronger argument against nationalism is theoretical, which claims that
all nations are necessarily either amoral or immoral and cannot be otherwise.
This argument relies on the set of inherent components (such as national
sovereignty and self-determination) that all nations have in common, and makes
the case that these components must combine to create a problematic ideology.
This is largely because such components always lead to a political structure that
allows both unacceptable inequalities and unjustifiable partiality.
A common response to this claim is to distinguish between good and bad
forms of the nation, and then show that while the theoretical criticism applies to
the bad forms it does not apply to the good. Although most of these distinctions
fail to work against the theoretical criticism, one distinction seems promising:
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liberal nationalism. This version of nationalism includes the values that modern
liberal readers would want in any acceptable political theory, and tries to show
how these values are, in fact, compatible with nationalism.
Yet I argue that liberal nationalism also comes up short as a response to
the theoretical anti-nationalist position. In its place I offer a new version of
nationalism, a model that starts with some of the values of the liberal nation, but
which is expanded by using some of the key ideas found in Aristotle’s ethical and
political writings. I call this model the ‘Virtuous Nation,’ and argue that it serves
as an example of a nation that is not immoral. If I am correct, the general
rejection of nationalism that the anti-nationalist critics seek is mistaken.
But I aim to go further than merely answering the critics. I believe that
Aristotle’s writings offer ideas that can be useful today and that these ideas
would help make the Virtuous Nation the best version of nationalism currently
available. As a practical tool, I propose that this ideal nation be used as a guide
for improving actual nation-states. Although the Virtuous Nation is an ideal and is
not found anywhere (and would be difficult to instantiate), it can serve the
practical function of providing a standard for what is considered ‘good,’ and by
serving as a measure of how far existing nations fall short. Indeed, I believe that
without having some standard to use, it is impossible to meaningfully aim at
improving at any existing system, since there would be no clear idea of what the
goal is. This is the primary value of this Aristotelian Virtuous Nation for the
nationalist ideology that is the political foundation in today’s world.
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Dedicated to my husband, Michael
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to thank my adviser, Daniel Farrell, for his support and guidance
throughout my time at Ohio State: no one in the department taught me more or
had more influence on me philosophically.
I would also like to thank David Hahm, from whom I took exceptional
classes and with whom I had especially valuable conversations about ancient
philosophy and the ancient world in general over the course of many years.
I am grateful to Gregory Jusdanis, whose book The Necessary Nation is a
good example of how to argue against the empirical critics of nationalism.
I wish to thank Jane McIntyre, Jan Van der Muellen, and James and Jane
Barthelmess for their guidance and advice.
I am indebted to Martha Nussbaum, whose work provides clarity and
practical uses for Aristotle’s ethical and political writings; this includes her latest
book, Frontiers of Justice, although it takes a different path with Aristotle than
what I take here.
Finally, I thank my family for all of their patience and encouragement,
especially my husband, Michael, for without his support when I needed it most, it
is possible I would not have been able to finish this journey.
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VITA
July 13, 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Born – Berea, Ohio
1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B.A., Philosophy and Classics
Cleveland State University
1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.A., Philosophy
The Ohio State University
1993 – 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graduate Teaching Associate
The Ohio State University
2000 – 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Course Instructor
Salt Lake Community College
2002 – present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part-time Instructor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
FIELDS OF STUDY
Major Field: Philosophy
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication............................................................................................................iv
Acknowledgements...............................................................................................v
Vita.......................................................................................................................vi
Chapters
1. Introduction.............................................................................................................1
1.1 Relevant Terms Defined.............................................................................4
1.2 Naïve Criticisms: The Problem of Nationalism.........................................13
1.3 Beyond the Naïve Criticisms.....................................................................19
2. What History Does and Does Not Tell Us: The Empirical Criticism of Nationalism
and a Response to that Criticism..........................................................................27
2.1 The Empirical Criticism of Nationalism.....................................................29
2.2.1 The Empirical Criticism: The Intra-national Perspective...............30
2.2.2 The Empirical Criticism: The International Perspective................35
2.2 A Response to the Empirical Criticism of Nationalism..............................43
3. An Examination of the Inherent Properties of Nationalism: The Theoretical
Criticism of Nationalism and a Common Response.............................................50
3.1 The Theoretical Criticism of Nationalism..................................................51
3.1.1 The Theoretical Criticism: Equality and Impartiality......................53
3.1.2 The Theoretical Criticism: Nationalism’s Inequality and Partiality 59
3.1.3 The Theoretical Criticism: Undeserved Loyalty and Bad Goals...67
3.2 Response to the Theoretical Criticism......................................................73
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3.2.1 Response to the Theoretical Criticism: Alternative Distinctions...74
3.2.2 Response to the Theoretical Criticism: Liberal Nationalism.........80
3.3 An Evaluation of Liberal Nationalism........................................................91
3.3.1 An Evaluation of Liberal Nationalism: The Positives....................92
3.3.2 An Evaluation of Liberal Nationalism: The Negatives...................95
4. An Aristotelian Framework for a Better Response to the Theoretical Criticism:
The Virtuous Nation, Part I..................................................................................101
4.1 The Aristotelian Framework: The Polis...................................................103
4.2 The Aristotelian Framework: Political Concepts.....................................117
4.2.1 The Aristotelian Framework: Political Concepts (Ruling and Being
Ruled)..........................................................................................118
4.2.2 The Aristotelian Framework: Political Concepts (The Common
Good)..........................................................................................123
4.3 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts.......................................136
4.3.1 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (Virtue)..............137
4.3.2 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (Habituation of
Virtue)..........................................................................................145
4.3.3 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (Paideia)...........151
4.3.4 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (Deliberation)....156
4.3.5 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (The Good for
Humans)......................................................................................159
4.3.6 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (Rhetoric)..........162
4.3.7 The Aristotelian Framework: Ethical Concepts (Friendship)......168
5. A Defensible Form of the Nation: The Virtuous Nation, Part II...........................172
5.1 The Virtuous Nation................................................................................175
5.1.1 The Virtuous Nation: Components and Size...............................180
5.1.2 The Virtuous Nation: Goodness, Representative Democracy and
Deliberation.................................................................................183
5.1.3 The Virtuous Nation: Education (Rhetoric).................................192
5.1.4 The Virtuous Nation: Education (Morality)..................................198
5.1.5 The Virtuous Nation: Limits on Inequality and Partiality.............203
5.1.6 The Virtuous Nation: The Middle Class......................................208
5.1.7 The Virtuous Nation: Freedom and Private Property..................213
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5.1.8 The Virtuous Nation: Friendship and the Virtue Alliance............218
5.1.9 The Virtuous Nation: Rhetoric as a Bridge between Reason and
Emotion.......................................................................................222
5.2 Beating Critics to the Punch: Potential Problems with the Virtuous Nation
and My Responses.................................................................................225
5.2.1 Potential Problems: Theoretical Bias in the Ideal.......................228
5.2.2 Potential Problems: Selective Use of Aristotle’s Concepts........231
5.2.3 Potential Problems: An Expanding Population of Participants...245
5.2.4 Potential Problems: The Use of an Ideal....................................249
6. Why an Aristotelian Virtuous Nation?.................................................................259
6.1 Why ‘Virtuous’?.......................................................................................262
6.2 Why Use Aristotle?..................................................................................267
6.3 Why ‘Nationalism’?..................................................................................280
6.4 Why the ‘Virtuous Nation’?......................................................................283
Bibliography....................................................................................................................288
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