Original scientific paper

Gjuro Arnold on Patriotism

Ivana Skuhala Karasman ; Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb

Abstract

Gjuro Arnold (1853–1941), a Croatian philosopher, poet and pedagogue, discusses some topics on patriotism in his short work Ethics and History (Etika i poviest), published in Zagreb in 1879 and in his speech “Unique Croatian folk culture” (“Jedinstvena hrvatska narodna kultura”) from 1909. His position on patriotism Arnold builds on the ideas of Herbert Spencer (1820– 1903), a British philosopher and sociologist, and also a sharp critic of patriotism. In the paper I will present Spencer’s understanding of patriotism. For Arnold patriotism is an emotion of pride which an individual has for the unity to which he belongs. Further, he argues that an excessive patriotism awakes vanity and tendency for groundless interference with other person’s rights. The consequence of this is either a victory or a defeat. On the other hand, a weak patriotism provokes egotistic wishes from other sides.

Keywords

Gjuro Arnold; patriotism; Herbert Spencer

Hrčak ID:

97180

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/97180

Publication date:

25.10.2012.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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