On Loyalty

Loyalty is one of the most highly charged and important issues, often evoking strong feelings and actions. It is also a deceptively difficult concept to grasp. What is loyalty? Is loyalty compatible with impartiality? Are there limits to loyalty and if so, where do they lie? In aglobal era is loyalty to my country an outmoded idea?

Drawing on a fascinating array of examples from Socrates’ suicidal loyalty to Athens to The Remains of the Day and No Country for Old Men, Troy Jollimore expertly unravels the phenomenon of loyalty from a philosophical standpoint.

Loyalty is a highly charged and important issue, often evoking strong feelings and actions. What is loyalty? Is loyalty compatible with impartiality? How do we respond to conflicts of loyalties? In a global era, should we be trying to transcend loyalties to particular political communities?

Drawing on a fascinating array of literary and cinematic examples - The Remains of the Day, No Country for Old Men, The English Patient, The Third Man, and more - Troy Jollimore expertly unravels the phenomenon of loyalty from a philosophical standpoint. He reflects on the idea that loyalty shapes our very identities, and considers both the benefits and the dangers of loyalty: on the one hand, how excessive loyalty can move us to perform immoral, even evil actions; one the other, how loyalty can expand our lives and give us a sense of meaning and belonging.