Document Type
Freshman Seminar Essay
Publication Date
1995
Excerpt
Patriots often say that they will die for their country. They say it is their duty to defend their country's interests, at any price, even the price of their own life. People may say and feel this, but are they being true to themselves? What does it mean when they say it is their duty? Duty is defined as a course of action that is required of one by position. One's duty could be to uphold a social custom, to honor a moral obligation, or to perform an assigned task. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque narrows this broad definition of duty down to two important points of human life: blind duty to one's country from social obligation, and duty to fellow men from moral obligation. Through the actions of Paul Baumer and his comrades, duty to one's fellow men is shown to have greater value than duty to one's country.
Recommended Citation
Hodgson, Jay, "Blind Duty versus Moral Duty (1995)" (1995). The Valpo Core Reader. 249.
http://scholar.valpo.edu/core_reader/249