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 a global era is loyalty to one's 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. He reflects on the idea that loyalty shapes our very identities and considers the problematic relationship between loyalty and patriotism, especially the perils of excessive loyalty. He also examines the connection between loyalty and identity and asks what we mean by 'belonging' and using the example of Martin Luther King, he asks what happens when loyalty to the law and loyalty to the good are in conflict.