Loyalty may hurt sometimes, but not as much as betrayal

We all know loyalty when we see it, but what exactly is it? It is an obligation or preference which one voluntarily assumes towards a living object (except oneself) or a cause. The key aspect of loyalty is that it commands that we remain true to our chosen projects and causes even when this is contrary to our short term self interest.

Loyalty is important for several reasons. At the pragmatic level, it is a catalyst for an enormous amount of desirable human conduct. In fact it has been proclaimed that loyalties ground more of the principled, honourable and other kinds of non-selfish behaviour in which people engage than do any other moral principle.

For some people, loyalty is such a powerful force that it moves them to willingly lose their life for their country or their friend. In less dramatic contexts, loyalty is the force that sees many make great personal sacrifices, by caring for sick or infirm relatives, friends or even pets.

Not only does loyalty motivate a lot of desirable behaviour but it has a strong moral foundation. It is one of the foundations of trust which enables society to engage in co-operative action by enabling us to make confident predictions regarding the way in which others will behave and respond to our requests and actions. Loyalty is also a means of overcoming alienation.

Of course loyalty, like all moral virtues, is not absolute. The unbridled pursuit of loyalty can lead to morally repugnant outcomes. The brotherhood syndrome, identified in many police departments, is a classic illustration. Police sometimes refuse to disclose the unlawful behaviour of other officers through a sense of loyalty to both their colleagues and the cause of policing. Loyalty to one’s friends and family can lead to a total indifference to the plight of others.

Moreover, not all loyalties should be given equal moral weight. Loyalties to people or causes which are clearly destructive to the common good, such as a loyalty to Osama bin Laden or the Ku Klux Klan will never come up trumps, since it is almost certain that whatever pleasure a person obtains in expressing such loyalties will be outweighed by the harm the object of the loyalty will cause to others.

The difficulty is determining the point at which loyalty should be subordinated to other principles. Given the important role that loyalty plays in the pursuit of human well-being, the scales need to be heavily tilted against it before we should betray our loyalties.

The current US plan is not clearly inferior to other solutions to the Iraq dilemma. Hence the Australian Government is right to back its US ally. This might hurt the government at the polls, but given the importance of loyalty it is a price worth paying.

Certainly, it is an example worth setting for the whole population who would do well to embrace it at the personal level. Society would be far healthier if people stopped cutting their mates and colleagues loose when the association becomes a tad inconvenient - loyalty might hurt at times, but almost never much as betrayal.