Most People Are Taught That Loyalty Is a Virtue. but Loyalty-Whether to One's Friends, to One's School or Place of Employment, or to Any Institution-Is All Too Often a Destructive Rather Than a Positive Force
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- Date Submitted: 07/31/2010 02:17 AM
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Loyalty, defined as faithfulness or a devotion to a person, group, country, or cause according to Wikipedia, is viewed by most people as a virtue, including me. Though I concede that loyalty does not bring about positive outcomes all the time, yet I cannot agree with the speaker's claim that loyalty is all too often a destructive rather than a positive force. As far as I'm concerned, due to the blindness to universal morals, loyalty may be followed by damaging actions, but it cannot deny that loyalty itself is a virtue.
Admittedly, blind and excessive loyalty may lead to destruct. According to Stephen Nathanson, professor of Philosophy at Northeast University in the U.S., one of the dimensions of loyalty is scope. Loyalties to different objects differ in scope. The loyalty to certain object should be kept within certain a proper scope in order not to violate loyalties to other objects or other people's loyalties. For instance, the loyalty to the employer should only require the employee to go to work on time and perform the required task effectively, but not to sacrifice this family time for excessive work. However, in reality, people with blind and excessive loyalty may involve in destructing the benefits of other people, which is often the case when it comes to the loyalty to the country. The World War Two is a typical example of such loyalty. The German people who had blind loyalty to the national mission described by Hitler, neglected their loyalty and responsibility to the peace of the whole world and the worldwide interests of most people. The case was the same with Japanese military who invaded China and killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese people. Obviously, the Germany’s and Japanese's loyalties to their own countries have overpassed the universal loyalty to the worldwide peace, and caused devastating results both to their own countries and the rest of the world.
Nevertheless, loyalty itself is a virtue because it helps cultivate the unity and...
Admittedly, blind and excessive loyalty may lead to destruct. According to Stephen Nathanson, professor of Philosophy at Northeast University in the U.S., one of the dimensions of loyalty is scope. Loyalties to different objects differ in scope. The loyalty to certain object should be kept within certain a proper scope in order not to violate loyalties to other objects or other people's loyalties. For instance, the loyalty to the employer should only require the employee to go to work on time and perform the required task effectively, but not to sacrifice this family time for excessive work. However, in reality, people with blind and excessive loyalty may involve in destructing the benefits of other people, which is often the case when it comes to the loyalty to the country. The World War Two is a typical example of such loyalty. The German people who had blind loyalty to the national mission described by Hitler, neglected their loyalty and responsibility to the peace of the whole world and the worldwide interests of most people. The case was the same with Japanese military who invaded China and killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese people. Obviously, the Germany’s and Japanese's loyalties to their own countries have overpassed the universal loyalty to the worldwide peace, and caused devastating results both to their own countries and the rest of the world.
Nevertheless, loyalty itself is a virtue because it helps cultivate the unity and...