第39章

1haveplacedNeighbourhoodalongwithKindredamongtherelationsoutofwhichacertainclaimformutualservicesisthoughttospring。However，nooneperhapswouldsaythatmerelocaljuxtapositionisinitselfagroundofduties:itseemsratherthatneighboursnaturallyfeelmoresympathywithoneanotherthanwithstrangers，asthetieofcommonhumanityisstrengthenedevenbysuchconjunctionandmutualassociationasmereneighbourhood(withoutcooperationorfriendship)mayinvolve，andamaninwhomthiseffectisnotproducedisthoughtmoreorlessinhuman。

Andsoinlargetownswherethismutualsympathydoesnotsonaturallygrowup(forallthetownsmenareinasenseneighbours，andonecannoteasilysympathisewitheachindividualinamultitude)，thetieofneighbourhoodisfelttoberelaxed，andneighbouronlyclaimsfromneighbour，asthenearestman，whatonemanmayclaimfromanother。Fortherearesomeservices，slightinordinarytimesbutgreaterinthecaseofexceptionalneed，whichanymanisthoughttohavearighttoaskfromanyother:sothatacomparativelytriflingcircumstancemayeasilygiveaspecialdirectiontothisgeneralclaim，andmakeitseemreasonablethattheserviceshouldbeaskedfromonepersonratherthananother。Thusanydegreeofkinshipseemstohavethiseffect(sincetherepresentationofthistendstoproduceafeelingofunionandconsequentsympathy)，andsoeventhefactofbelongingtothesameprovince，ascreatingaslightprobabilityofcommunityoforigin-andagainsimilaritiesofvariouskinds，asonesympathisesmoreeasilywithone’slike，andsopersonsnaturallyseekaidindistressfromthoseofthesameage，orsex，orrank，orprofession。Thedutyofneighbourhoodseemsthereforeonlyaparticularapplicationofthedutyofgeneralbenevolenceorhumanity。Andtheclaimoffellow-countrymenisofthesamekind:thatis，iftheyaretakenasindividuals；forone’srelationtoone’scountryasawholeisthoughttobeofadifferentkind，andtoinvolvemuchmorestringentobligations。

StillthedutiesofPatriotismaredifficulttoformulate。Forthemereobediencetothelawsofacountrywhichmoralityrequiresfromallitsinhabitantsseemstocomeunderanotherhead:andaliensareequallyboundtothis。Andinthecaseofmostsocialfunctionswhichmenundertake，patriotismisatleastnotaprominentnorindispensablemotivefortheyundertakethemprimarilyforthesakeofpaymentandhavingundertakenthem，areboundbyJusticeandGoodFaithtoperformthemadequately。However，ifanyofthefunctionsofGovernmentareunpaid，weconsiderthatmenexhibitpatriotisminperformingthem:

forthoughitisplausibletosaythattheygettheirpaymentinsocialdistinction，stillonreflectionthisviewdoesnotappeartobequiteappropriate；sincesocialdistinctionisintendedtoexpressfeelingsofhonourandrespect，andwecannotproperlyrendertheseaspartofabargain，butonlyasatributepaidtovirtueorexcellenceofsomekind。Buthowfaranyindividualisboundtoundertakesuchfunctionsisnotquiteclear:

andthequestionseemsgenerallydecidedbyconsiderationsofexpediency，——exceptinsofarasdutiesofthiskinddevolve，legallyorconstitutionally，uponallthecitizensinafreecountry，asisordinarilythecasetosomeextent。Amongthesethedutyoffightingthenationalenemiesisprominentinmanycountries:andevenwherethisfunctionhasbecomeasalariedandvoluntarilyadoptedprofession，itisoftenfelttobeinaspecialsensethe`serviceofone’scountry’，andwethinkitatleastdesirableandbestthatitshouldbeperformedwithfeelingsofpatriotism:aswefinditsomewhatdegradingandrepulsivethatamanshouldslaughterhisfellow-menforhire。AndingreatcrisesofnationalexistencetheaffectionofPatriotismisnaturallyintensified:andeveninordinarytimeswepraiseamanwhorendersservicestohiscountryoverandabovethecommondutiesofcitizenship。

Butwhetheracitizenisatanytimemorallyboundtomorethancertainlegallyorconstitutionallydeterminedduties，doesnotseemtobeclear:

nor，again，istheregeneralagreementonthequestionwhetherbyvoluntaryexpatriationhecanrightfullyrelievehimselfofallmoralobligationstothecommunityinwhichhewasborn。

Nor，finally，doesthereseemtobeanyconsensusastowhateachmanowestohisfellow-men，assuch。TheUtilitariandoctrine，aswehaveseen，isthateachmanoughttoconsiderthehappinessofanyotherastheoreticallyofequalimportancewithhisown，andonlyoflessimportancepractically，insofarasheisbetterabletorealisethelatter。AnditseemstomedifficulttosaydecidedlythatthisisnottheprincipleofgeneralBenevolence，asrecognisedbythecommonsenseofmankind。Butitmustbeadmittedthatthereisalsocurrentalowerandnarrowerestim