On the Matter of Courage
To the philosopher Aristotle, there were many types of virtues
and they came in many forms. He viewed virtue as the habit of
the soul. It was the mean between two vices: one of deficiency
and one of excess. And this mean was defined through reason as
the prudent man would define it. He was careful in his analysis
of mankind and all the basic components that should make the
species as is. To Aristotle, virtue was the sign that meant the
man and his soul was at happiness, which was the ultimate goal
of life. Though he carefully examined many virtues, one of the
more interesting and analytical in his studies is his perception
on the virtue of courage.
Aristotle's view of bravery and courage is a unique look at a
characteristic in mankind. It is very situational and personal
by definition. Each being has its own interpretation of how to
be brave and how to overcome the mortal fears, whether
naturalistically feared or at least logically defended. There is
no defense for fears that have no real threat or act of bravery
to overcome. So the first point of understanding Aristotle's
stance in the matters is to know that there is a wrong
definition for being brave, meaning that there is no true act of
bravery for the mortal man to overcome, and a right definition
for being brave, where it is a natural and/or logical fear that
is understood and overcome by the individual. Once one can
recognize the specifics of Aristotle's assessments, they can aim
at the requirements to become brave.
The brave man, to Aristotle, is a wise man. For even in being
brave and courageous one must still have fears. It is a part of
human kind to understand and acknowledge this. It is almost in a
way like a humble, though in some cases not so evidently humble,
manner of recognizing your own mortality and imperfection in
life. If one did not have fear or fears, then one could not
overcome them and truly never achieve greater peace or
self-accomplishment in life. And it is required to not only have
the fear, but also to be able to recognize the fear. The
individual must be able to know what it is that he fears before
he can overcome it. So there is some intellect and
self-awareness necessity in being brave. Once the person can
admit to their own being that they do indeed fear like all
humans and that they can identify what it is to fear, they can
proceed in the steps to overcome their fear.
The problem with this is that it there is a fine line between
the instinctive sense of courage and the intellectual sense of
courage. Aristotle looks down on those who rush in to overcome
their courage and do not fully assess what it is that they
should be brave against and for. It is not in their wisdom that
they do such acts and therefore do not understand that they are
truly being brave. On the other hand, though one may act almost
fool-heartedly when put in a situation requiring bravery, it
does not necessarily mean that the person has a vice of excess
in the virtue, which is what on even grounds Aristotle's work
seems to express. The problem arrives that does the man truly
need to consciously recognize the act of bravery or can
instinctively his mind and body realize this without making it
consciously aware? If so, then he destroys any other factors in
his decision to be courageous and is not being manipulated or
influenced by any forces other than his own conscious. This
gives expression that there is also a vice of over-thinking.
As stated, Aristotle clearly expresses an act of
intellectualism and reason being a part of bravery. To what
extent this goes is what splits his definition of the virtue
into paths of interpretation. Man requires reason to exist as
man. This part is clear in all forms and analyses, but that
reason can be an innate feature at times, acting as an
instinctive part of man's being. By looking at it in this way,
courage would require mainly just being able to overcome the
fear and a certain amount of analysis of it. Lack of analysis
would mean improper reason and recognition of reality, while
over analysis would inevitably bring in other elements and
components other than the pure act of overcoming a fear and
being brave. So courage relies on a means between two vices of
reason. One would fail at truly gaining the virtue of courage if
they were to be fool-hearted and not fully understand what it
means to be courageous, and also one would fail if they were
over-analytical and let the influence of other elements besides
their own judgment and conscious persuade their acts and being.
So we can gather this from the end analysis: the virtue of
courage is an act of understanding man's own mortal fears, both
natural and logical, and the ability to keep the act of
overcoming fear, of being courageous, between two vices of
reason where one is the lack of judgment and intellect while the
other is the excess of judgment and analyzing. This leaves
Aristotle's view on courage in an unlikely path. Though he
deeply expresses the power of reason, it is this same reason
that creates a vice if used to much. There seems to be some
expression that reason is a force that is innate to man and so
in saying so one does not need to overexert themselves to use
it. Thus, reason is the understanding of life, mortality, and
virtue, and is the creation of all things expressed in a
balanced form within mankind.
In the end, Aristotle's view on courage seems to leave one
important fact: it is not by our own choice that we have it. Not
to say that man does not recognize his fear and overcome it, but
in definition to say that we have the conscious power not to
express the virtue rather than the conscious power to express
it. In other words, it is natural for man to achieve this virtue
of courage, but to not achieve it is by his own actions and
determinations. This is in a sense a contradiction to his
teachings of choice and freedom of action. There is this
instinctive essence to courage that Aristotle emphasizes. It
comes from the very definition of man being a reasonable,
analytical and intelligent creature. Though man must make some
efforts to be able to properly use the powers of reason, man is
defined as the only creature to have reason and therefore it is
a power within man that is interconnected and not an outside
force to rely on. The virtue of courage therefore requires the
power to recognize that man possesses it and not the power to
reach its goal. Sustaining the means between the vices of
deficiency and excess in reason is the endeavor that mankind
endures to reach a virtue. It is the function of the human being
to reason.
To Aristotle, everything aims at a greater Good. This Good is
not some unseen God(s) to worship and follow, or the goal to
change the world and make it a "better place" without any clear,
unbiased view on what would be indeed better. It is simply to
reach the state of Happiness. And to do so, man needs the
virtues to fully understand his place in the world. The virtue
of courage is no different. It is the way for one to overcome
the difficulties and suffering of life. Without it, man would
not be so vibrant in life. It is the virtues, this balance of
the soul between deficiency and excess, from reason that allow
man to be what it is. Aristotle clearly understood this in his
wisdom and was kind enough to share it with the world.