The Ethics Meetup – Are you proud of your country? Do you love your country?

Hello Ethics & Philosophy Fans!

UPDATE: we have a topic for the Meetup, which is this Sunday, July 26 at 5 PM – 7 PM Pacific Time.

We're meeting on zoom this month; shortly before the meeting starts, I'll send a Zoom invitation with the link and some discussion notes.

If your plans to attend have changed, please update your RSVP.

The winner of the email vote and the topic for Sunday is:

ARE YOU PROUD OF YOUR COUNTRY? DO YOU LOVE YOUR COUNTRY? If you don’t feel pride or love of country, does that count against your moral character, or does that make you a flawed citizen? Or is it the opposite of that? Shortly after the 250th year commemoration, this is an apt time to reflect on these questions, and whatever your answers are, ask yourself about the reasons for your attitudes about the country. Do your feelings cohere with your intellectual judgments on the matter? Now, I'm not asking what you think and feel about the current president, congress, or supreme court, but about the country as a whole.

When you contemplate your pride and love of country (or lack thereof), what do you mean by country? Is the country the American people? Is it American culture or the American way of life? Is it the ideals the country stands for? Is it the U.S. Constitution or our form of government? Is it the political leadership throughout time? Is it the country’s achievements and history? Is it the land itself? Or is it something else?

Note: if you were born in or lived in another country, feel free to answer these questions for any place you’ve called home. I know that many of our meeting-goers have lived around the world.

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READINGS for the topic – I have three short readings for you this time. Inspire and clarify your thinking on the issues by reading these!

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/07/american-history-common-narrative/687301/
How America Gave Up on Its Own History. From the July 2026 issue of The Atlantic, this opinion piece aims for a non-partisan take on the question of pride in one’s country. It’s written by historian Yoni Appelbaum, a deputy executive editor at The Atlantic. “Unable to agree on how to interpret the American story, the country’s schools, universities, and political institutions have stopped trying to tell it at all.”
This 9-page article is the main reading for the topic, but is currently behind a paywall – I can email you a copy if you message me or email me at [angelonapinhead@gmail.com](mailto:angelonapinhead@gmail.com)

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nationalism-vs-Patriotism-Whats-the-Difference
Nationalism vs. Patriotism: What’s the Difference? This is a quick, half-page entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/patriotism-sociology
The Patriotism entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, at 3 pages in length, goes over several competing conceptions of Patriotism, along with varying reasons for ethical support or opposition to patriotism.

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FYI, we talk about the topic from 5 PM – 7 PM, though a number of people stay on for several more hours and talk about the topic and/or about whatever else comes up in a looser, freewheeling conversation.

Don't forget, if you have some philosophical question or issue that you want to talk about at a future meeting, email it to me!

See you there,

Brian