Bounded justice for tribal creatures: a fact-sensitive defence of patriotism

We defend patriotism against the moral arbitrariness objection. Our argument appeals to a fact-sensitive view of justice which integrates fundamental facts about the human condition into our normative theorising. We argue that tribalism, the innate tendency to favour the in-group, is a circumstance of justice and that fact-sensitive views of justice must account for it. We then present a two-step comparative argument. Practically, patriotism is a far better fit for tribalism than cosmopolitanism and other broader loyalties. Finally, compared to viable alternative loyalties, patriotism reveals robust ethical credentials: it can overcome the politics of difference while also ennobling and taming tribalism.