Exemplars of Loyalty

Abstract This chapter draws connections between Josiah Royce’s philosophy of loyalty and recent work on moral exemplarism by Linda Zagzebski. Like Royce, Zagzebski unites strands from various ethical theories and foregrounds the significance of moral exemplars—individuals who exemplify various virtues and moral traits—and, in doing so, helps further our knowledge and understanding of the nature of morality. Although Zagzebski places less explicit emphasis than does Royce on the significance of loyalty among the virtues, loyalty in various forms is nevertheless invoked at various points in her discussion. Royce, for his part, is clear about the centrality and significance of loyalty, and famously proposes the promotion of “loyalty to loyalty” as a criterion of worthiness with respect to the causes to which people might devote themselves.