Patriotism in the Western and Russian Civilizational and Cultural Tradition

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the foundations and historical devel‑ opment of the idea of patriotism in various civilizations and cultures. The research reveals the dialectical nature of patriotism, which embodies opposing aspects whose contradictory unity constitutes its very concept. The authors provide a substantive defi‑ nition of these aspects, distinguishing between the spontaneous (unconscious) and the conscious (rational‑intellectual) elements that underlie the concepts of “homeland” and “Fatherland”. From the perspective of the internal interrelation between part and whole, the study examines the natural and spiritual causes of the formation of patriotic men‑ tality among citizens. The authors reject the negative extremes of purely spontaneous and conscious patriotism, insisting on their harmonious synthesis. Tracing the historical stages of the development of patriotism — from clan and tribal communities to modern states — they conclude that the cultural soil of Rus` –Russia, enriched by many ethnic and religious traditions and serving as a geopolitical bridge between East and West, is particularly favorable for developing of the concrete meaning of this concept. Its rational concreteness, expressing the differentiated unity of homeland and Fatherland, reveals the existential significance of patriotic mentality as a source of life, strength, and aspiration for the individual.