Is Nationalism a Rational Phenomenon - Coursework Example

Is Nationalism a Rational Phenomenon? Introduction Nationalism basically refers to two phenomena. Nationalism is the particular attitude that all the members of a country posses when they think about the national identity they have, (Tamir, Y., 1999). It at the same time refers to the actions that are taken by the citizens of a particular country at the time when they seek to attain and have a sustained self determination. The concept of nationalism Nationalism brings about the issue of a national identity that can be described in terms of ethnicity, common origin or cultural ties. The membership of an individual in a country is not a voluntary issue though some of the times it is said to be voluntary. Nationalism turns out to be involuntary when a member of a country is born in a particular nation. It was not a choice to be born there so it becomes involuntary. People who permanently change their citizenship and get that of another country are voluntarily, members of their country of choice. Thus, voluntary. The concept of nationalism is deeply intertwined with questions like; What does a nation refer to and what is the meaning of national identity. What does it mean to belong to a nation? Is this nation membership non-voluntary or voluntary? Is nationalism rational? Is it appropriate to always care about one’s national identity? How much should one care about nationalism? Nationalism is also viewed as a doctrine that believes that a nation which is at this point defined as a culture or ethnicity is entitled to be an autonomous or independent political community that has its basis on a common destiny or a shared history. Those who are very extreme about nationalism define it in terms of genetics or even race. Nationalism highly influences the history of the world. Over the past years, nationalism has been written off from philosophic debates. It has however surfaced in the philosophy arena especially as a result of the constant troublesome nationalists clashes for instance in Yugoslavia. Gans, C., (2003). The rush of nationalism normally presents an ambivalent that is moral and creates a very interesting picture. The fight for political independence and national awakening is known to be cruel to humanity but at the same time heroic. It leads to the creation of a full and free state that passionately responds to deep sentiments. However, in the process of attaining this, inhuman and violently explosive mechanisms are used to clean the nation off of the non-nationals even to the tune of well organized and executed mass murder, Miller, D., (1995). Principles of Nationalism These principles lay out the aspects that compose the ideology of a nationalist. These include; Nationalism must be a type of universalism especially at the time it makes claims that happen to be universal on the best way to organize the world. This notion is however particular to individual nations. For example it may assert a notion like “in this nation, the national language must be the official spoken language, all the citizens of this nation are expected to speak it and they must not use any language that is foreign. This sounds dictatorial. Nationalism has its starting point as the physical existence and presence of a nation. Nationalist believe that a nation must first exist before nationalism can take effect. From this school of thought, the nation is seen as having a long history. The notion also insists that a nation can never be artificially created. The nationalists consider themselves as being the representatives of a nation that has existed for centuries. This is however refuted by some nationalism theories. Nationalism is a Non_Rational Phenomenon Nationalism is just a phenomenon that makes individuals too much committed to their culture or ethnic groups to such an extent that they ignore the concerns of all the other persons alongside their interests as well as rights. It makes people to blindly follow the attitude of a nationalist and all the beliefs that come along with it. Some scholars view it as the totalitarian, integral nationalism. Nationalism is only appealing to the nationalist because of its potential to give people the satisfaction and fulfillment of the needs that they have despite the fact that these needs may not be in any way connected with the nation or even be of interest to the protection of the interests of the particular nation, McKim, R. and McMahan, J. (2001). The argument behind nationalism is purely academic and only exercised due to its response to social pressure. Nationalism is not rational as it only keeps people away from the opportunity of feeling insufficient socially, or even the inability of individuals to get along with those who are different. It provides the citizens with an arena of for an exercise that is socially approved for all kinds of aggression. It appears to be a perfect way of escaping the individuality of oneself as well as the possibility of being able to redefine the self-worth by mixing up the individual in to the rest of the masses. For one to be able to fully understand the reasoning used by nationalists, it is important for one to understand that to any person who is a nationalist, the general nation is the definitive reference point for all the political and social actions and loyalties. The nationalist compete to promote and respond to, direct aggression, conformity, collective intolerance as well as deviance, Smith, A. D., (1991). All this is done for the sole purpose of drawing further boundaries and making much exaggerated contrasts. The ideal nationalism can only be possible as a phenomenon for the elite people and not for the general masses. Due to the nature of its characteristics, and also bearing in mind that nationalism relies and attempts to appeal to the minds of the people, nationalism is best termed as a phenomenon that is non-rational. In addition, the national sentiment is as well non-rational. This however does not mean that it is irrational. It is simply a standard that is used as people as a means to an end. Conclusion Any rational phenomena is best described as that which uses the power of reason in any decision making process, it is the use of the mind in thinking and reasoning through without the influence of emotions. Nationalism is not hence a rational phenomenon. It is not wise to call it irrational but it can best be described as a non-rational phenomenon. The people who are nationalists then only use the ideology as a means to an end, (Gellner, E., 2003). References Gellner, E., (2003): Nations and Nationalism, Blackwell, Oxford. Smith, A. D., (1991): National Identity, Penguin, Harmonds worth McKim, R. and McMahan, J. (2001): The Morality of Nationalism, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Miller, D., (1995): On Nationality, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Tamir, Y., (1999): Liberal Nationalism, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Gans, C., (2003): The Limits of Nationalism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK. Read More