ABSTRACT
Can patriotism be a form of nationalism? This is contested. The crux of the matter is international conflict. Being group egoism, nationalism is itself a source of conflict, since every international conflict of interest invites nationalists but possibly not patriots to defend their side. It is conflict that raises the question in the first place. Hence, those who overlook it are out of the debate even when they claim to support both nationalism and, say, socialism. (See Agassi 1984.) The advocacy of international conflict was the rule in the early modern nationalist ideology, including that of Johann Gottlieb Fichte (Russell 1934: 356-61) and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Popper, 1957b: 37, 58, 65, 68-9). They are followed by cohorts of social philosophers up to and including Martin Heidegger (Popper 1957b: 77-8). Their teaching is inflammatory; it consists of demagoguery and promises of a great destiny designated for their own nation, making it superior to all others. This is a secular version of the doctrine of the Chosen People. It has added to international
conflicts, especially to World War I and the enthusiasm for it (see Russell 1934: 24). This kind of nationalism is often termed “chauvinism”; it will not be discussed here.
