Aristotle on Courage

1083 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The strengths and weaknesses in aristotle nicomachean ethics book one

In the 1939 movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion is on a quest for the wizard to give him courage. He is afraid of everything and anything. However, in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle believes that courage is possible for all individuals. To gain courage one must have the inner qualities that will guide the courageous. The most important part of these qualities is to come to terms with death itself. Also, there are views of courage that are falsely perceived because they appear to be parallel with one another; nevertheless they are still very different.

One must have many different inner qualities in order to achieve courage. First, one must not be concerned with death; death can be a beautiful thing. Aristotle talks about how the possibility of dying for your country in war can be the utmost and most poetic danger of all. (Aristotle 48, Sachs) Dying for a country in defense gives a person honor because he or she stands firm in a belief regardless of what could happen to him/her. Aristotle compares this with citizenship. He claims:

Citizens seem to endure dangers on account of the penalties that come from the laws, and reproaches, and on account of honors; and because of this, those peoples seem to be the most courageous. (Aristotle 51, Sachs)

Citizens here show their courage and do not fear the consequence, and uphold rationality. The motive here is not fear of the end result being their persecution, but for the good and defense of their self and nation. One must yearn for the honor in the process of being unyielding in a belief. The citizens face real dangers that put them at risk; they are courageous because they stare them down and are willing to face them despite the risk with regard to rationa...

... middle of paper ...

...ing death (or failures) in honor of something greater, more poetic; and their balanced manner, it is clear that; if one obsesses about death or one’s failures, one will never be able to overcome it. Realizing that the most important inner quality is facing death and taking risk with respect to rationality; because if one does not, one will never amount to anything more beautiful (in a poetic sense) in their life. When one faces death or a failure, one is accepting the biggest challenge of all. And lastly, I strive to be like Aristotle’s courageous individual because I want to live a balanced life, and I want to live within a mean. I do not want to overly exercise fear and become cowardly, nor do I want be overly confident and lead a rash life.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Joe Sachs. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing R. Pullins Company, 2002.

Show More
Related

  • The Theme Of Death In De Rerum Natura By Lucretius

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    Man 's thoughts of death and eventual oblivion is mainly concerned with “whose subject he would be in life or death,/ Which doom, by land or sea, would strike him down” (Lucretius, “Death,” 150). This idea of death in the mind of a stoic is a predetermined one. It something that cannot be changed. You will achieve your end as it is innately yours and cannot be swayed. While, in keeping with epicurean thought, Lucretius is urging us to realize that it does not matter which evils you face in life and by which doom you meet your end, as long as it was in pursuit of your highest good, happiness. Without life you can never have an potential that existence brings. Life entails hardship for man and “he must be there,/ Himself, to feel its evil, but since death/ Removes this chance, and by injunction stops/ All rioting of woes against our state” (Lucretius, “Death,” 151). This promise of serenity in death is the epicurean promise, and it reveals that death will be the point at which you come nearest to your ultimate and highest happiness, all of which would be utterly impossible without first living and experiencing the due evils of

    Read More

  • report on letters from a father

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Overall, dwell on this process of changing throughout the poem, it can be understood that the poet is demonstrating a particular attitude towards life. Everyone declines and dies eventually, but it would be better to embrace an optimistic, opened mind than a pessimistic, giving-up attitude; face the approach of death unflinchingly, calmly.

    Read More

  • How does Ignorance and Pride Play a Part in Man’s Destruction?

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    The choices we make define the destiny of our lives. Since the beginning of time, man has always been an imperfect being full of flaws. Man is faced with different situations that can end up bringing disgrace to himself and his family if the situations are not well handled. In the texts Book II of the Aeneid by Virgil, Antigone by Sophocles, Oedipus the king by Sophocles, and Book XXII from the Iliad by Homer; Creon, the Trojan people, Hector, Achilles, and Oedipus embody what can lead to a man’s downfall through their own choices. Through these texts we are able to learn from the mistakes people made in the past and lead good moral lives. The texts illustrate how pride, lack of empathy, and ignorance lead to the destruction of man.

    Read More

  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...mes their fears at their own time. Aristotle’s point is not when to overcome fears, its how to overcome them. Christopher shows various acts of courage, but at his own different time and in his own state of mind. His zealous attitude about Wellington’s murder, causes him to find out things about his family as well as himself. Christopher realizes his own courage and strengths after his journey is over. He realizes that he can do anything he sets his mind to. Aristotle explains overcoming a fear takes real courage and caution. Although, Oak Park is a nice city, there are still horrible people out there. Being cautious of your surroundings but also having the courage to do anything is the key to success when living in Oak Park. The big picture is everything happens for a reason. People never know how strong they have to be, until being strong is the only option.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jennifer Mitchel Hecht's The Alchemist

    1731 Words  | 4 Pages

    Courage is categorized as a big act of heroism in face of danger, but no act of courage is too small or fruitless, but an act of courage is what helps the development of individuals and growth of society. In the American Scholar’s Article, To Live Is an Act of Courage, Jennifer Mitchel Hecht talks about suicide throughout history and the implications that come with the act, she refers to Greek mythology and follows with the philosophy of Seneca to then emphasize the suicide crisis in today’s military and how the act of living is courageous itself even though the idea seems minute it plays a critical point in our society. Post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses make it harder for people to continue living, suicide has increased drastically throughout the twentieth century and we have seen this great fall through many heroes from military, celebrity, profession, and school suicides. Hecht quotes Seneca, a Roman philosopher, “I saw not my own courage in dying, but his courage broken by the loss of me. So I said to myself, ‘You must live.’ Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”(Seneca qtd. in Hecht) Noting that true courage comes from sparing ourselves in times of emotional agony. Sparing other people from a repeated mission of suicide, accomplishing courage by not succumbing to agony and therefore giving way for others to gain courage too. Unlike,

    Read More

  • A Lesson Before Dying Analysis

    2618 Words  | 6 Pages

    It is unquestionably true that the real individuality, the real human nature can be revealed in extreme situations, when the human life is at stake. This work represents an attempt to show that each individual has an opportunity to change his/her life completely, to make it really humanistic and do something good even if it is the last thing he/she can do in his/her life. A Lesson Before Dying suggest the audience to reevaluate its views on life and realize that everything may be changed. At the same time, it is never late to change the life for better and reveal positive traits of character or even commit some heroic or humanistic acts even if it threatens to end the entire life of the individual.

    Read More

  • Theme of Courage in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

    1689 Words  | 4 Pages

    The idea of “true courage” is used throughout this text, however so are other equally important themes such as protection of the innocent, prejudice and hypocrisy. Despite that this book was written in the 1930’s it’s idea’s are still very relevant today. I feel that prejudice and hypocrisy are especially common in small towns such as Gunnedah. Although peoples attitudes towards things like racism have not completely changed we must not give up hope, we must have faith in the good of all people.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Aristotle And Hobbes

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    He stated, “So virtue is a provisional disposition… virtue is a mean; but in respect of what is right and what is right and best, it is an extreme (Aristotle, 42).” Here Aristotle explains that moral virtue is determined by reason and that it avoids the states of too much, excess, or too little, deficiency. He believes that our soul is the principle of living because it is inside of us. Therefore, for Aristotle the soul was morally which is where we are given the right reason. He believes that, “there are two parts of the soul, one rational and one irrational (Aristotle, 145).” The rational part, which is how he believe we should do our actions upon, consists of possessing reason, part that can think and command, and intellectual virtues, which are virtues that come from time and experience. Courage is a moral virtue. When having courage, you either have too much fear, which makes you a coward, or you have too little fear, where you’d be considered rash or fool hardy. Generosity is also a moral virtue. When you are generous, you are either giving too much, which makes you profligate, or you are giving too little which would consider you as a stingy person. Moral virtues lead you to happiness because of their intermediate state that is by

    Read More

  • Aristotle: Ethics and the Virtues

    2252 Words  | 5 Pages

    Aristotle's ethics consist of a form of virtue ethics, in which the ethical action is that which properly complies with virtue(s) by finding the mean within each particular one. Aristotle outlines two types of virtues: moral/character virtues and intellectual virtues. Though similar to, and inspired by, Plato and Socrates’ ethics, Aristotle's ethical account differs in some areas.

    Read More

  • The Folly Of Human Nature In Homer's Odyssey

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Ancient Greeks sought to define how humans should view their lives and how to create an existence dedicated to the basis of the “ideal” nature. This existence would be lived so as to create an “honorable” death upon their life’s end. Within their plays, both dramas and comedies, they sought to show the most extreme characteristics of human nature, those of the wise and worthy of Greek kleos along with the weak and greedy of mind, and how they were each entitled to a death but of varying significance. The Odyssey, their greatest surviving drama, stands as the epitome of defining both the flawed and ideal human and how each individual should approach death and its rewards and cautions through their journeys. Death is shown to be the consequence

    Read More

  • Nicomachean Ethics: Aristotle's Explanation Of Ethical Virtue

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    In spite of the fact that Aristotle was a companion and scholar of Plato, he didn't concur with Plato's speculations on ethical quality. In the same way as other Greeks, Aristotle did not have confidence in the presence of inalienably terrible practices.

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Definition Of Courage

    208 Words  | 1 Pages

    When someone thinks about the mean of something, usually it involves numbers or some sort of mathematical concept, but Aristotle introduces mean in a different way. He explains that to be able to have our end purpose we must find a mean between each virtuous activity that helps contribute to our end; happiness. For example the mean between courage lies between two extremes. Excessive courage is called “rashness”. Not having any courage is called “cowardice”.

    Read More

  • Homer’s Iliad – Searching for Meaning in Tragedy

    1807 Words  | 4 Pages

    Death is a great wave whose shadow falls upon the lives of all beings below Olympus. Amidst this shadow and its immediacy in war, humans must struggle to combat and metaphysically transcend their transitory natures. If they fail to forge a sense of meaning for themselves and their people in what often seems an inexorably barren world, they are lef...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Fate In The Death Of Ivan Ilych

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    We are all condemned to death; it is inescapable. Even if a person doesn’t believe in the concept of destiny, it is undeniable that every person is fated to die at some point. Most people, however, are not aware of when exactly the inevitable will approach. Often in works of fiction, the reader, or sometimes even the character, is aware of their fate. There are many different understandings of destiny, which is one of the reasons why it has played such a large role in so many different literary works throughout the world and history. Fate is one of the principal literary devices used in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Shakespeare’s tragic play, Antony and Cleopatra, and Tolstoy’s pedagogical novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Batman Based on Aristotle's Virtue

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    The virtues defined by Aristotle consist of two extremes or vices, the excess and the deficiency. The mean or the intermediate between the excess and the deficiency is the virtue. One virtue Aristotle explains is bravery, with its vices being rashness and cowardice. Each aspect of these is contrary to the others, meaning that the intermediate opposes the extreme. Similarly, one extreme opposes the mean and its other extreme. The implications of this are that the excess opposes the deficiency more than the mean. This causes the mean to sometimes resemble its neighboring extreme. Obtaining the mean involves the challenge of being excellent. The challenging part, however, is “doing it to the right person, in the right amount, at the right time, for the right end, and in the right way” (Nicomachean Ethics 1109a28-29:29). Fortunately, one can steer themselves to the mean if one is conscious of the extreme they are naturally inclined to go towards. Since everybody is uniquely different the means by which one steers themselves in the right direction is different for each individual. In addition, Aristotle names three requirements for an action to be a virtue. First one must be cons...

    Read More

More about Aristotle on Courage

Open Document