Mazzini

toc =Background= Born in 1805, Giuesppe Mazzini gained most success through the publication of his set of homilies, //On The Duties Of Man// (published 1840).

=Readings=

Online text

 * [|On the Duties of Man] at Google Books (partial version).

Overview
Mazzini was a nationalist who tied “nationalism into all the good things life has to offer” (Brown //et al.//, pp. 462-463). Mazzini believes that the national principle does not contradict universal principles, i.e., all nations are able and ought to live in harmony and political freedom is enhanced by the national principle (democracy and nationalism go together) (ibid., p. 463). For Mazzini, duties to humanity take priority over duties to country (ibid.). However, there is at least potential for contradiction here because Mazzini argues for the carving up of Europe on national lines to form “states based on Countries of The People” (ibid.).

Duties to humanity
In terms of importance, the first duties of human beings are to humanity. Without knowing what these duties are, other duties cannot be satisfied perfectly (in Brown //et al.//, p. 476). Limiting morality to merely obligations to duties with respect to family or country reflects self-interest (egoism) and will “lead you to what is evil for others and for yourselves” (ibid).

Human nature is characterised by rationality and sociability, which allow human beings, through their association, to progress, and there is an obligation on the part of each person (through the direction of God) to nurture and develop these faculties in order that humanity may continue being superior to animals and not violate the Law of God (the law of life) (in Brown //et al.//, pp. 476-479). Therefore, above all, the highest priority of human beings is to humanity: “Ask yourselves whenever you do an action in the sphere of your Country, or your family, //If what I am doing were done by all and for all, would it advantage or injure Humanity?// and if your conscience answers, //It would injure Humanity//, desist; desist, even if it seem to you that an immediate advantage for your Country or your family would ensue from your action” (ibid., p. 479).

Duties to country
Mazzini—reiterating the duty to humanity as being the highest priority in importance (“You are //men// before you are //citizens// or //fathers//”)—contemplates the question of what each person, having “isolated powers”, can do for the moral improvement and progress of humanity (in Brown //et al.//, p. 479). He asserts that the rallying cry “of the future faith is //association//, fraternal cooperation towards a common aim” (ibid.). However, achievement of this common aim through cooperation is hindered by diverse “languages, tendencies, habits, and capacities. The //individual// is too weak, and Humanity too vast” (ibid., p. 480).

Mazzini’s answer to the aforementioned dilemma is that God has provided the means by planting “the seeds of nations”, i.e., organised each person into a “Country” (in Brown //et al.//, p. 480).

However, Mazzini sees God’s design of nations as having been corrupted, at least in Europe, by bad governments: “by conquest, by greed, by jealousy of the just sovereignty of others; disfigured it so much that to-day there is perhaps no nation except England and France whose confines correspond to this design” (ibid). He sees that natural divisions (“the innate spontaneous tendencies of the peoples”) will overturn the arbitrary decisions invoked by bad governments and that the current shape of Europe will revert to its natural design through revolution (ibid.). And these countries (post-redesign) will live together congenially for the good of humanity. He sees Italy as “the best-defined country in Europe” (ibid.).

In advocating a united Italy, Mazzini writes, “A country is a fellowship of free and equal men bound together in a brotherly concord of labour towards a single end. You must make it and maintain it as such. A country is not an aggregation, it is an //association//. There is no true Country without a uniform right. There is no true country where the uniformity of that right is violated by the existence of caste, privilege, and inequality – where there is no common principle accepted, recognised, and developed by all. In such a state of things there can be no Nation, no People, but only a multitude, a fortuitous agglomeration of men whom circumstances have brought together and different circumstances will separate” (in Brown //et al.//, p. 483).

//All// people of a nation, not just a fraction of them, should contribute to the making of the secondary laws, which will advance the progressive application of the supreme (moral) law: “The law must express the general aspiration, promote the good of all, respond to a beat of the nation’s heart. The whole nation therefore should be, directly or indirectly, the legislator. By yielding the mission to a few men, you put the egoism of one class in the place of the Country, which is the union of //all// the classes” (in Brown //et al.//, pp. 483-484).

=Study Questions= (Add, answer, and discuss study questions for this author and reading) We were given life by God. From this gift of life that God has given us comes the obligation to drive our endeavours towards those that benefit all of mankind. As humans, we are equipped with rational and social capabilities, and these are the qualities which mark us out from the other 'beasts' around us. Human beings have an obligation to nurture their God-given nature, characterised by their faculties of rationality and sociability, in order to remain superior to animals and, thus, not violate the Law of God (i.e., the law of life). Without knowing and prioritising highest the duties to humanity, human beings will only imperfectly meet their other (lesser priority) duties. These other duties will only teach humans self-interest "and lead you to what is evil for others and for yourselves." For Mazzini, duties to humanity take priority over duties to country. In his view, human beings cannot perfectly fulfil their duties to country without understanding their duties to humanity. **(But he also suggests that the best way of fulfilling duties to humanity is to fulfill duties to country, especially the duty to form a nation and cooperate at that scale. Remember the point about the nation being the optimal scale of cooperation 1191215572)** It appears that these two terms are synonymous for Mazzini. Consider: “A country is a fellowship of free and equal men bound together in a brotherly concord of labour towards a single end. You must make it and maintain it as such. A country is not an aggregation, it is an //association//. There is no true Country without a uniform right. There is no true country where the uniformity of that right is violated by the existence of caste, privilege, and inequality – where there is no common principle accepted, recognised, and developed by all. In such a state of things there can be no Nation, no People, but only a multitude, a fortuitous agglomeration of men whom circumstances have brought together and different circumstances will separate” (in Brown //et al.//, p. 483). **(yes, but Mazzini sometimes speaks of the nation as the precursor to the country 1191215572)** To morally improve and progress humanity. The country/nation is the seed planted by God to facilitate this function, which human beings living in isolation would be too weak to do. Mazzini believed that the country/nation was the 'optimal' unit of organisation for mankind. Smaller groupings would be too disparate to communicate and really address our problems, and bigger groupings (like empires) are too large for individuals to be connected with. In a country, people can come together and solve social problems effectively. By doing this, eventually the condition of humans everywhere will be improved, thus the by nationbuilding we advance humnaity. **(How does it facilitate this? 1191215572)** Mazzini sees the natural (God's) design of countries/nations as having been violated by bad government **(what bad government, specifically? What does he have in mind? 1191215572)**. He thinks that countries/nations will revert to their natural design through revolution and then live together congenially for the benefit of humanity. Yes. Consider his description of the (natural, God-allotted) frontiers of Italy (see in Brown et al., pp. 480-481). This view implies that homogenous ethnic/national groupings exist within tightly defined territorial areas. The reality, however, is exceedingly difficult, with many groups in Europe existing in between and across these supposed 'natural frontiers'. The Basques between Northern Spain and Southern France, and the Roma people across Eastern Europe are but two exmaples. The physical country/territory is only the foundation upon which the nation is formed. The nation is a higher-level construct represented by an association of those living in the physical territory, with each person sharing equally in the decisions of the nation. The answer to this question appears not to be straightforward. It appears that Mazzini believes that political freedom is strengthened by the national principle, i.e., nationalism and democracy go hand in hand. However, his appeal for the redrawing of existing nations is potentially antidemocratic **(why? 1191215572)**.
 * Why do we have duties to humanity, according to Mazzini?
 * What is the relation between love of humanity and love of country?
 * What is a country? What is a nation?
 * What is the function of a country/nation in the grand scheme of things?
 * Does Mazzini think that the arrangement of states in his time corresponds to the true arrangement of nations? What is the proper response to the situation he sees?
 * Does Mazzini think countries have "natural frontiers"? What are the implications of this view?
 * What is the relationship between a physical country and the nation?
 * Is Mazzini's nationalism potentially democratic or antidemocratic?

Despite a seemingly clear advocacy of democracy, it is also possible to interpret Mazzini as espousing anti-democratic principles. This alternative interpretation is enabled through the symbolic mechanism of the ‘country’ as endorser of authoritarian rule, in that the country is the supreme authority which governs the people. Because “in the name of your country you must combat without truce” the romantic nationalism in all its idealistic splendour constitutes a supreme authority commanding citizens over and above their democratically elected governance. The equality Mazzini espouses as “your Country is one and indivisible… a Country as it ought to be, the Country of all and for all” effectively oppresses citizens to conform to an equality which would hinder democratic processes. Mazzini’s equality within a nation ultimately creates a dictatorship of egalitarianism under the guise of nationalism.

[|[1]] p 483 [|[2]] p 483-484

=External Resources=
 * [|Biographical Information]