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 "in the right manner" would be those who have experience in dangerous situations. Whereas one exhibiting courage works against and gains control over one's fear, the mercenary struggles with nothing. Mercenaries have been desensitized to the fear that a truly courageous person would feel. Spirited men are another group who are mistaken for the courageous. They seem to be courageous, but are not "because they are spurred by pain and a roused temper to rush into danger" (11176b, 35). Anger clouds their judgement. Those who act so do not qualify as courageous primarily because they are not motivated in the proper way. There are also t...