Nationalism

Our species, being a product of organic evolution, developed a complex social structure that reflects the biological structure of the human brain. The progression of this social structure is illustrated by both primate behavior and the archaeological record. Driven by biological and environmental factors, the development of culture became a decisive, and often divisive, adaptation. Within this cultural domain, primitive seeds of nationalism took forms of divisions based on shared phenotypic expressions and crude ideologies. Wealth and social status reinforced this social structure. With the development of new technologies, nationalism became more than a solidifying process; it became an aggressive political ideology based on the conceptual term of race.

The primary base of nationalism is the nation state. The concept of nation, defined as a population whose common identity creates a psychological bond and a political community, is often referred to in terms of state or country. Although nations, states, and countries may be comprised of various genetic populations, nationalism focuses on the commonality of language, ethnicity, and history. It is this nationalistic identity that promotes a psychological bond and a justified political community. This process can be seen in the philosophy of ancient Greece and the Greeks' influence on Western thought for centuries.

There are many postulated theories concerning the origin and development of the state. The writings of both Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) and Aristotle (384–322 BCE) had an important influence on the development of basic ideologies in nationalism. Essentially, the form of government is a reflection of the individual; individuals gather for the purpose of security and [Page 1668]have a share in the common good that would enable an individual to attain the good life. Whether it was Plato's philosopher king or Aristotle's benevolent monarch, the developmental structure and political ends were to secure domestic prosperity at the expense of the “barbaric world” around them. For example, Plato stated that the development of the stratified state, reflecting parts of the soul (for example, appetites and rationality), provided an illusionary utopia with a justified class system. Although this philosophical class system was an idealized society, the political implications were a justification of class structure of their society. In this manner, the highest form of government being aristocracy would eventually decay into timocracy, then plutocracy, democracy, and despotism. Aristotle had similar, yet different political ideas. True forms of governments that are recognized were monarchy, aristocracy, and polity, whereas the perverse forms are tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Acknowledging the inequality within the individual, the state would also reflect this inequality. Essentially, the state becomes an entity that enables individuals to perfect themselves and attain the good life. Ironically, the desire for equality was seen as the chief cause of revolutions and war. The basis of nationalism is to create an arena whereby these rigid social structures were maintained and protected. With the introduction of Christian theology by the theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274),nationalism incorporated the logistics of Greek philosophical thought with divine revelation (for example, divine right of kings).

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Aquinas, viewing humankind's order as a reflection of a divine order, held that our species is a social species; therefore, the social hierarchy must exhibit the same qualities depicted in other social animals, but more importantly, the hierarchy that exists in the heavens. Justifying both political and ecclesiastical structure, the rule by one, whether king or pontiff, can be the only form by which a government should operate. In this manner, religion attempted to overcome ethnicity by stressing the unity of humankind by one creator. In Aquinas's view, the king, especially a just king approved by Rome, becomes the social enforcer, just as the church becomes the spiritual enforcer, of the Kingdom of God on earth. Ironically, with each principality claiming God's sovereign charge (the Crusades), the outcome is reduced to those who have the greatest amount of holy favor. Dominions and conquest would fuel this form of nationalism during the age of imperialism.

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