Courage

For other uses, see Courage (disambiguation).

Fortitudo, by Sandro Botticelli

Courage is the quality of mind and spirit that enables an individual the ability to confront troublesome situations viewed as dangerous and fearful with resolution and bravery. It can be divided into "physical courage" — in face of physical pain, hardship, and threat of death — and "moral courage" — in the face of shame, scandal, and discouragement.

Definitions

As a virtue, courage is covered extensively in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, its vice of deficiency being cowardice, and its vice of excess being recklessness.

It is well understood that physical and moral courage matters in the military, and there are ample illustrations of courage in religion, sometimes to the point of martyrdom.

Courage is one of the Four Cardinal Virtues of the Catholic Church. "Cardinal" meaning "pivotal" is applied to this virtue because to possess any virtue, a person must be able to sustain it in the face of difficulty.

The precise view of what constitutes courage not only varies among cultures, but among individuals. For instance, some define courage as lacking fear in a situation that would normally generate it. Others, in contrast, hold that courage requires one to have fear and then overcome it.

There are also more subtle distinctions in the definition of courage. For example, some distinguish between courage and foolhardiness in that a courageous person overcomes a justifiable fear for an even more noble purpose. If the fear is not justifiable or the purpose not noble, then the courage is either false, or foolhardy.

Moral courage

Moral courage, more than physical courage, is widely debated. It is frequently regarded as courage in following one's own ethics which may result in the individual feeling isolated from colleagues, or even family.

Civil courage

Civil courage (sometimes also referred to as 'Social courage') is defined by many different standards, but the term is usually referred to when civilians stand up against something that is deemed unjust and evil, knowing that the consequences of their action might lead to their death, injury, or any other negative effect.

In many countries, such as France and Germany, civil courage is enforced by law; this means that if a crime is committed in public, the public is obliged to act, either by alerting the authorities, or by intervening in the conflict. If the crime is committed in a private environment, those that witness the crime are either to report it, or try to stop it.

Bystander effect

The death of Kitty Genovese in 1964, Queens, New York, is often cited as a classic example of civil-courage failure. It is said that during a half-hour long attack, Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered in full view of thirty-eight witnesses, while none interfered. (Accounts differ, though; none of the witnesses claims to have witnessed the entire attack, many claim that they were not aware that Genovese was in danger, and some shouted at the attacker and called authorities.)

Criminologists argue that such passivity is a result of "big-city life," cultural emphasis on individualism, or a common expectation that "someone else" will intervene. Others believe that simple cowardice is another explanation of passivity.

Symbolism

Courage's accompanying animal is the lion. Fortitude is often depicted as having tamed the ferocious lion and is sometimes seen as a depiction of the Catholic Church's triumph over sin. It is also a symbol in some cultures as a savior to the people who live in a community with sin and a corrupt church and/or religious body.

See also

• Virtue
• Bushido, the Japanese warrior code
• Chivalry and knightly virtues

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia "Fortitude"
• Summa Theologica "Second Part of the Second Part" See Questions 123-140
• "The Courage Project"

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