Professional Patriots and Ethical Levels
| Author | Barent Ten Eyck |
| Published date | 01 March 1952 |
| Date | 01 March 1952 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625228000114 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
97
Professional
Patriots
and
Ethical
Levels
By
BARENT
TEN
EYCK
HEN
space
limitations
enjoin
Wbrevity,
the
essayist
on
an
as-
signed
subject
cannot
waste
words.
The
subject
of
this
essay,
as
limited
by
its
very
title,
is
a
special
and
vitally
topical
one;
but
it
lies
pinpointed
within
a
very
general
field,
which
a
host
of
earnest
and
powerful
thinkers
have
cultivated
for
many
centuries.
That
field
con-
sists
of
the
area
where
a
broad
and
his-
toric line
of
philosophical
thought,
on
the
subject
of
ethics,
crosses
the
his-
toric
development
of
man’s
devotion
to
his
own
native
land,
known
as
patri-
otism.
This
suggests
that
the
shortest
way
to
the
formulation
of
any
well-consid-
ered
conclusions
on
the
subject
of
&dquo;pro-
fessional&dquo;
patriots, -
viewed
with
refer-
ence
to
ethical
levels,
will
be
to
define
the
essential
terms.
More
explicitly,
it
is
necessary,
before
saying
anything
useful
about
professional
patriots
and
ethical
levels,
to
do
some
pondering
both
upon
the
nature and
meaning
of
patriotism
and
upon
the
meaning
of
man’s
persistent
striving
to
make
him-
self
an
ethical
being.
THE
MEANING
OF
ETHICS
I
believe
that
the
elucidation
of
the
terms
&dquo;patriotism&dquo;
and
&dquo;ethics&dquo;
will
be
best
accomplished,
for
the
purposes
of
this
essay,
by
seeking
first
to
define
&dquo;ethics.&dquo;
Of
the
two
terms,
it
has
the
longer
history
and
the
broader
scope.
Usage
as
recorded
in
dictionaries
and
linguistic
history
as
discoverable
from
etymology
agree
in
fixing
the
meaning
of
the
word.
Ethics
relates
to
morals,
moral
questions.
It
is
that
part
of
phi-
losophy
dealing
with
moral
conduct
and
judgment.
It
aims
at
establishing
stand-
ards
of
right
and
wrong.
In
its
prac-
tical
application,
for
example,
it
deter-
mines
what
a
professional
man
may or
may
not
properly
do.
The
word
is
de-
rived,
of
course,
from
the
Greek
ethos,
meaning
custom
or
moral
nature.
The
ethical,
or
moral,
problem
is
a
problem
of
the
individual,
in
virtue
of
the
fact
that
he
is
born,
grows
up,
and
is
obliged
to
live
within
a
society
re-
quiring
his
adjustment
with
his
fellow
men.
Professor
Warner
Fite
has
said
that
to
be
moral
(or
ethical)
is
to
be
thoughtful,
or
self-conscious:
that
is,
conscientious
and
responsible.’
In
so
saying
he
has
only
repeated
two
famous
sayings
of
Socrates:
&dquo;Virtue
is
knowl-
edge,&dquo;
and
&dquo;Know
thyself.&dquo;
In
the
same
study
on
ethics,
Profes-
sor
Fite
has
also
suggested
that,
if
the
’ moral
ideas
governing
international
re-
lations
were
those
which
govern
the
relations
of
decent
individuals,
if
na-
tional
honor
meant
what
individual
honor
means
&dquo;to
a
man
of
intelligence
and
a
gentleman,&dquo;
and
if
the
expression
of
contempt
for
what
the
citizens
of
other
nations
hold
dear
&dquo;could
cease
to
be
regarded
as
an
evidence
of
patri-
otism,&dquo;
the
necessary
adjustments
be-
tween
nations
might
easily
come,
pro-
ducing
peace
on
earth
and
good
will
to
men.
THE
NATURE
OF
PATRIOTISM
But
what
is
patriotism?
Mr.
Justice
Holmes
has
said:
&dquo;A
word
is
not
a
crystal,
transparent
and
unchanged;
it
is
the
skin
of
a
living
thought
and
may
vary
greatly
in
color
and
content
ac-
1
Warner
Fite,
An
Adventure
in
Moral
Phi-
losophy,
London:
Methuen
&
Co.,
Ltd.,
1926.
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