COURAGE

'Courage', also known as 'bravery' and 'fortitude', is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. 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.

Contents

Theories of courage

Civil courage

Valour

Symbolism

References

See also

Theories of courage

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 (along with Prudence, Justice, and Temperance) in Roman Catholicism. "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. In Catholicism and Anglicanism, courage is also one of the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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. "
you must fight the things that you can't do.

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.

Valour

Valour is the moral strength required to perform one’s duties honestly. It is not physical courage. Very few will have the opportunity to display a disregard for their personal safety under hazardous conditions. Rather, valour is the concept that bridges the ideas of truth and duty. It is the moral courage to live honestly and to do one’s duties, no matter the circumstances. Source - Royal Military College of Canada Officer Cadet Handbook p,15.

Symbolism

Its accompanying animal is the lion. Often, Fortitude is depicted as having tamed the ferocious lion. Cf. e.g. the Tarot trump called Strength. It is sometimes seen as a depiction of the Catholic Church's triumph over sin. It also is a symbol in some cultures as a savior of the people who live in a community with sin and a corrupt church or religious body.

References

★ ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' "Fortitude"

★ ''Summa Theologica'' "Second Part of the Second Part" See Questions 123-140

★ Paul Tillich, The Courage To Be (London: Collins, 1952), Chapter VI, "Courage and Transcendence", pp.152-183.

★ Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (New York: The Free Press, 1973).

★ Douglas N. Walton, Courage: A philosophical investigation (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986).

★ Stephen Palmquist, ''Angst and the Paradox of Courage'' (2000) [1]

See also

★ Virtue

★ Bushido, the Japanese warrior code

★ Chivalry and knightly virtues

★ Dharma