Patriotism and Nationalism: A Selection of Key Contemporary Philosophical Texts

The purpose of the book is to introduce concepts of patriotism and nationalism as they are understood in Western Countries and the debate between different conceptions of patriotism and nationalism. This debate is new in the experience of Estonians who mostly do not consider patriotism and nationalism to be problematic concepts. It is important to understand the international debate in order to clarify Estonian identity and to help understand what it means to be an Estonian in a multicultural world.

The book consists of ten key texts in contemporary political philosophy translated into Estonian. Among these are articles by such outstanding contemporary theorists as Alasdair MacIntyre, Stephen Nathanson, Attracta Ingram, Margaret Canovan, Roger Scruton, David Miller, Yael Tamir, Will Kymlicka, and Francis Fukuyama.

The book consists of two parts. The first part, “Liberalism and Patriotism”, introduces patriotism in the context of liberalism. The second part, “Liberalism and Nationalism”, examines the relations between the two ideologies. A thorough introduction has been written by compiler and co-editor Dr. Eva Piirimäe.

Eva Piirimäe is a historian and currently works as a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Government and Politics at the University of Tartu, Estonia. She received her PhD in the history of ideas from the University of Cambridge. Her dissertation (2006) was titled Thomas Abbt (1738–1766) and the Philosophical Origins of Nationalism. Piirimäe’s main research interests are contemporary political theory, political and moral philosophy, and philosophy of history.