Is Nationalism a Rational Phenomenon Coursework

Is Nationalism a Rational Phenomenon - Coursework Example 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 voluntary, 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. 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.