Aristotle & Virtue
Aristotle considers courage and every other moral virtue to be a mean between two extremes. If one had an excess of fear combined with a lack of confidence, fear would affect the decisions of such a person and one would display cowardice. If the inverse were true, that person would be considered reckless. The virtue of courage is "a mean with respect to fear and confidence." (1115a). It is an emotion where one feels both confidence and fear, but neither to such a degree that they cloud one's judgement. A courageous person is one "who endures and fears the right things, for the right motive, in the right manner, and at the right time, and who displays confidence in a similar way" (1115b, 17-8). People are often seen in situations where they are thought to have courage, but, in actuality, they do not. These situations occur when the person acts for the wrong reason concerning any one or any combination of these conditions.An example of those who do not "endure and fear for the right things" are those whom Aristotle calls "citizen soldiers." These people do not perform courageously for the sake of doing so. Rather, they do so to receive honors from their fellow citizens or for fear of punishment. Those who do not do it
Mercenaries have been desensitized to the fear that a truly courageous person would feel. To achieve any true virtue, one must first see that the excess or lack of these instinctual urges is not, in the end, beneficial, rather one must find the middle ground, or as Aristotle puts it, the median. He acted in such a timely fashion as to not only save the lives of individual members of his platoon, but also to prevent the loss of the entire engagement which would have annihilated everyone with him. Unlike these flawed imitations, true courage is an example of exercising practical wisdom. The last group of people who are mistaken as courageous are those who act out of ignorance of the danger in which they are. Whereas one exhibiting courage works against and gains control over one's fear, the mercenary struggles with nothing. The mercenary is very easily proven to not meet any of the conditions. He realized the importance of his job and he went beyond what e was called upon to do. Someone who has achieved this virtue is Alfred Rascon. These people do not act at the right time. This may not be in the better interest of the courageous, but his actions can work towards accomplishing a greater purpose. Rascon acted selflessly "to take care of the man next to [him]. Those who act so do not qualify as courageous primarily because they are not motivated in the proper way.
Common topics in this essay:
,
Alfred Rascon,
mistaken courageous,
confidence fear,
courageous person,
|
Acceptance Essays
