Enlightened Tribalism
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Abstract
Tribalism is often derided as a morally primitive form of human organization. But
for most of human history, people organized themselves into tribes that facilitated collective
action and provided their members with a sense of security and identity. In stark contrast,
liberal cosmopolitans have promoted the ideal of the world community. They tend to
diminish the moral importance of tribal attachments and instead claim that altruism should
have a more universal scope. We argue that although tribalism can encourage needless
conflict, it can also provide meaning, promote important virtues, and increase the long-run
viability of human groups better than liberal cosmopolitanism. We call the view that we
endorse “enlightened tribalism.” We end by identifying some of the problems tribalism can
create, and distinguishing the kind of tribalism that leads groups of people to flourish from
the kinds that lead to unnecessary suffering or self-destruction