While the fabric that has held society
together has worn ever thinner in our modern age, it is still loyalty that
lends the cloth its strength. It is loyalty that keeps the world
functioning. We could not conduct business transactions or personal
relationship without it. Loyalty is the idea that we are who we say we
are and we will do what we say we will do. It is the hope that the
integrity with which we initially encountered someone will endure
indefinitely.
It’s
also what keeps us unified. We live out our lives as part of agreed
upon norms that allow us to operate from day to day. We need to know who
we can count on. We all understand that ideally, friends will have your
back, lovers will remain true, and businesses will not cheat you out of
your money. When someone is disloyal, they break from these expectations and weaken the trust that holds us together.
From The Philosophy of Loyalty by Josiah Royce
Harvard Lecture Series 1908
2 comments:
As a Sailor I learned loyalty. As a civilian I've learned to be careful of who I trust.
Brian,
I have heard that from quite a few retired Navy people.
VR,
Chris Weech
Post a Comment