Western philosophical idea of nation and nationalism: analysis of the major theoretical approaches

This article analyzes the main approaches and focuses of the Western philosophic ideas reflecting system analysis of nation and nationalism. The special attention is paid to the two areas, which are primordialism (Van den Berg, C. Geertz, L. Gumilev) and modernism (E. Gellner, E. Smith, B. Anderson). The considered approaches are not mutually exclusive, thus, the most promising study of the nationalism in future will probably be interpretation of their most relevant aspects and development of the integrated conception of nation and nationalism.