Ethics and Insights on Courage (original) (raw)

Abstract

CTX is a counterterrorism journal. This is a version of my Lober Lecture at the US Naval Postgraduate School, from Spring 2018.

Figures (12)

Courage, Anxiety, and Despair: Watching the Battle, by James Sant, c. 1850.

Courage, Anxiety, and Despair: Watching the Battle, by James Sant, c. 1850.

Paul Bloomfield

Paul Bloomfield

Silanion's Head of Plato, Roman copy. The Scope of Courage

Silanion's Head of Plato, Roman copy. The Scope of Courage

without discussing recklessness at all, or how recklessness contrasts with courage. I'll say more about recklessness later on. So if we can’t really trust folk theory, then perhaps we should turn to philoso- phers claim Plato broad for a better understanding of the scope of courage. Normally, this is a helpful move, but in this case, unfortunately, there’s some disagreement. Aristotle claimed that the only place where courage ever manifests itself is on the battle- field, when people’s lives are in danger. Aristotle knew this was a contentious when he wrote it because Plato was his teacher, and in his dialogue Laches, describes Socrates as saying explicitly that a person can be courageous in a range of circumstances beyond the battlefield. For example, courage can be found among those caught on a ship far out to sea in a storm, and in people with serious illnesses. And so, you might wonder: If Plato and Aristotle are pointing in op posite directions about this question, what are we going to do? I think the answer is to change the question a little bit. I don’t think that the right way to get at the scope of courage is by imagining hypothetical situations and asking whether courage can be found in them. It’s better to talk about the character trait of being a courageous person, because I think Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates would have less disagreement about who is courageous and how courageous peop e are likely to behave wherever they happen to be.

without discussing recklessness at all, or how recklessness contrasts with courage. I'll say more about recklessness later on. So if we can’t really trust folk theory, then perhaps we should turn to philoso- phers claim Plato broad for a better understanding of the scope of courage. Normally, this is a helpful move, but in this case, unfortunately, there’s some disagreement. Aristotle claimed that the only place where courage ever manifests itself is on the battle- field, when people’s lives are in danger. Aristotle knew this was a contentious when he wrote it because Plato was his teacher, and in his dialogue Laches, describes Socrates as saying explicitly that a person can be courageous in a range of circumstances beyond the battlefield. For example, courage can be found among those caught on a ship far out to sea in a storm, and in people with serious illnesses. And so, you might wonder: If Plato and Aristotle are pointing in op posite directions about this question, what are we going to do? I think the answer is to change the question a little bit. I don’t think that the right way to get at the scope of courage is by imagining hypothetical situations and asking whether courage can be found in them. It’s better to talk about the character trait of being a courageous person, because I think Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates would have less disagreement about who is courageous and how courageous peop e are likely to behave wherever they happen to be.

Plato and Aristotle, or Philosophy. Marble panel by Luca della Robbia, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

Plato and Aristotle, or Philosophy. Marble panel by Luca della Robbia, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

A firefighter heads off to fight the Soberanes Fire in California, 2016. The flip side of the idea that virtue manifests itself in degrees is that nobody is perfectly virtuous, and the same is true for courage: nobody is perfectly coura- geous. It’s important to appreciate that the virtues are ideals, states to which we can aspire. We’re fallible mortal creatures and we all make mistakes. We also operate under conditions of incomplete knowledge. So it’s not possible for anyone to always do the right thing, or always perform the action that would reflect perfect virtue or perfect courage. No one’s perfect, but we can be more ot less courageous.

A firefighter heads off to fight the Soberanes Fire in California, 2016. The flip side of the idea that virtue manifests itself in degrees is that nobody is perfectly virtuous, and the same is true for courage: nobody is perfectly coura- geous. It’s important to appreciate that the virtues are ideals, states to which we can aspire. We’re fallible mortal creatures and we all make mistakes. We also operate under conditions of incomplete knowledge. So it’s not possible for anyone to always do the right thing, or always perform the action that would reflect perfect virtue or perfect courage. No one’s perfect, but we can be more ot less courageous.

There are also risks in being on defense, of course, and strategies for managing them. Defense is often about hunkering down and absorbing an offense. A classic non-military example is Muhammad Ali’s “rope-a-dope” strategy, which he used against George Foreman in their 1974 championship boxing match. Ali intentionally taunted Foreman to make him angry. When Foreman started throwing punches, Ali just hunkered down against the ropes and took the blows until Foreman wore himself out, at which point Ali went on the offensive. In the end, Understanding risk requires assessment of three different things: the circumstances you find yourself in, the different people who are involved, and the goals and objectives of the various actors. Stepping back, there are four dif- ferent kinds of situations that require virtuous behavior: situations requiring offense, situations requiring defense, situations of reconnaissance, and, finally, rescue situations.

There are also risks in being on defense, of course, and strategies for managing them. Defense is often about hunkering down and absorbing an offense. A classic non-military example is Muhammad Ali’s “rope-a-dope” strategy, which he used against George Foreman in their 1974 championship boxing match. Ali intentionally taunted Foreman to make him angry. When Foreman started throwing punches, Ali just hunkered down against the ropes and took the blows until Foreman wore himself out, at which point Ali went on the offensive. In the end, Understanding risk requires assessment of three different things: the circumstances you find yourself in, the different people who are involved, and the goals and objectives of the various actors. Stepping back, there are four dif- ferent kinds of situations that require virtuous behavior: situations requiring offense, situations requiring defense, situations of reconnaissance, and, finally, rescue situations.

Protestors being subdued during the Birmingham Campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, May 1963. Foreman was too tired to defend himself adequately and lost the fight. That’s often the way defense works: you stay on defense until you have an opportunity to move to offense.

Protestors being subdued during the Birmingham Campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, May 1963. Foreman was too tired to defend himself adequately and lost the fight. That’s often the way defense works: you stay on defense until you have an opportunity to move to offense.

Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman appointed to the level of assistant surgeon during the Civil War There’s even an interesting set of questions involving being courageous and honestly assessing your own abilities, and how doing so is related to self-deception. In general, we regard self-deception as a bad thing that we should try to avoid, as generally we are successful when we believe the truth and disbelieve what is false. In fact, self-deception might actually be beneficial in genuinely dire circumstances. We have an ability to deceive ourselves about ourselves, and it is no accident that this ability was naturally selected for through evolution. When the odds are so thoroughly stacked against us that a truly objective assessment of the likelihood of success or survival would lead to at least a little despondency, nature allows us to trick ourselves into redoubling our efforts, because max-

Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman appointed to the level of assistant surgeon during the Civil War There’s even an interesting set of questions involving being courageous and honestly assessing your own abilities, and how doing so is related to self-deception. In general, we regard self-deception as a bad thing that we should try to avoid, as generally we are successful when we believe the truth and disbelieve what is false. In fact, self-deception might actually be beneficial in genuinely dire circumstances. We have an ability to deceive ourselves about ourselves, and it is no accident that this ability was naturally selected for through evolution. When the odds are so thoroughly stacked against us that a truly objective assessment of the likelihood of success or survival would lead to at least a little despondency, nature allows us to trick ourselves into redoubling our efforts, because max-

Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers kneels during the national anthem to protest the killing of black Americans by polic Kaepernick has suffered makes his act courageous because there was, in fact, personal risk in doing what he did. I haven’t encountered anything from others but respect for the military and their courage. Even if people are not in favor of the decisions that politicians make when they send the military to fight, I don’t think there’s anything but admiration for the courage of the soldiers who are actu- ally facing the danger. It seems to me that the disrespect veterans were shown by some civilians upon returning from the Vietnam War ended once the soldiers’ plight gained publicity from movies like First Blood and Born on the Fourth of July.”®

Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers kneels during the national anthem to protest the killing of black Americans by polic Kaepernick has suffered makes his act courageous because there was, in fact, personal risk in doing what he did. I haven’t encountered anything from others but respect for the military and their courage. Even if people are not in favor of the decisions that politicians make when they send the military to fight, I don’t think there’s anything but admiration for the courage of the soldiers who are actu- ally facing the danger. It seems to me that the disrespect veterans were shown by some civilians upon returning from the Vietnam War ended once the soldiers’ plight gained publicity from movies like First Blood and Born on the Fourth of July.”®

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