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War

Armistice Day Reflections

Bob Sharpe asks what it is to die for one’s country.

When, twenty years ago, during the Falklands War, the British sank the ageing Argentinian warship, the General Belgrano, drowning some six hundred men, mainly conscripts, an eminent philosopher was said to have remarked “At least they had the satisfaction of dying for their country.” Whether we take the statement that they died for their country in either of the two ways, ‘they died in the interests of their country’ or ‘they died to protect their country’, it seems false. But more generally, what does the phrase ‘he died for his country’ mean and when is it true?

The problem is that ‘died for’ is ambiguous. It may mean ‘voluntarily risked or sacrificed his life to save the lives of others or in their interests’ – as a man who throws himself on a hand grenade to save the lives of his comrades died for them. Or it may mean ‘lost his life for’ which does not entail that it was an action of his.

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