PATRIOTISM, IDENTITY AND DEATH. REFLECTIONS ON THE EXISTENCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND A POLITICAL COMMUNITY

Abstract

The article reflects on the existential foundations of patriotism, identity and death. The presented considerations take into account the individual and community aspects of the analyzed issues. The preservation of eidos (essence) and the adjournment of the end are the central categories of the presented analysis. The starting point for the considerations is the myth-creating aspect of the historiography of Mistrz Wincenty, which forms the foundations of self-understanding for the Polish people. Attention is paid to the renaissance of thinking referring to myths that characterizes contemporary Western culture, described by Chantal Delsol. The concept of patriotism is analyzed using the understanding of this phenomenon proposed by Alasdair MacIntyre, and there are reference to the literature as well. The considerations reveal the tension between patriotism understood as a special kind of loyalty shown towards one’s own political community and the requirements of universalist ethics, especially liberal ones. Liberal criticism of patriotism presents it as an anachronistic attitude. It is related to the modern concept of progress. The article refers to the typology of types of progress proposed by Robert Spaemann, but referring to the division of human activities created by Aristotle. The negative effects – also in the sphere of education – of treating the category of progress as an absolute, radicalized and totalized value were emphasized; not requiring justification and equated with good. The article highlights the immanent threat to the existence of individuals and communities. Jonathan Lear’s study of the decline and rebirth of a culture created by the Native American community, the Crow tribe, is analyzed.