A Critical Analysis of Patriotism As an Ethical Concept / A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 1, 1918

A systematic philosophical inquiry that defines patriotism by analyzing its psychological impulses of attachment and antipathy, the ways patriotic dispositions are formed through deliberate and spontaneous habituation, and the beliefs that sustain national loyalty, including protection of self, identity with the country, and claims of intrinsic national worth. It synthesizes these elements into a concept of national individuality and treats the nation as an ethical unit before assessing the concrete moral value of patriotic commitment. The approach is largely inductive, aiming to clarify differing assumptions about patriotism and to reach a balanced ethical evaluation.