Editing Courage (section)

==Theories==
=== Ancient Greece ===
[[File:Plato Silanion Musei Capitolini MC1377.jpg|thumb|Plato, Musei Capitolini]]
Plato's ''[[Laches (dialogue)|Laches]]'' discusses courage, but fails to come to a satisfactory conclusion on what courage is. Many definitions of courage are offered, including:{{sfn|Walton|1986|pp=56–58}}

{{blockquote|...a man willing to remain at his post and to defend himself against the enemy without running away...{{sfn|Walton|1986|pp=56–58}}
...a sort of endurance of the soul...{{sfn|Walton|1986|pp=56–58}}
...knowledge of the grounds of fear and hope...{{sfn|Plato|1997|pp=675–86}} }}

While many definitions are given in Plato's ''Laches'', all are refuted, giving the reader a sense of Plato's argument style. ''Laches'' is an early writing of Plato's, which may be a reason he does not come to a clear conclusion. In this early writing, Plato is still developing his ideas and shows influence from his teachers like Socrates.{{sfn|Walton|1986|pp=56–58}}

In ''[[Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'', Plato describes courage as a sort of perseverance – "preservation of the belief that has been inculcated by the law through education about what things and sorts of things are to be feared".{{sfn|Plato|1997|pp=1061–75}} Plato explains this perseverance as being able to persevere through all emotions, like suffering, pleasure, and fear.{{sfn|Plato|1997|pp=2061–75}}

As a desirable quality, courage is discussed broadly by [[Aristotle]] in the context of soldiers in battle for a noble cause. In ''[[Nicomachean Ethics]]'', where its absence is the vice of [[cowardice]] and its excess the vice of [[recklessness (psychology)|recklessness]], courage represents the mean between the two extremes.<ref>{{cite book|author=Aristotle|chapter=Nicomachean Ethics|at=1103b15-20, 1104a15-25, 1104b1-10, 1107a30-1107b5, 1108b15-35, 1109a5-15, 1115a5-1117b25, 1129b20-5, 1137a20-5, 144b5-10, 1167a20, 1177a30-b1|title=Aristotle, Translation, Introduction, and Commentary|editor-last1=Broadie|editor-first1=Sarah|translator-last=Rowe|translator-first=Christopher|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2002}}</ref>

[[Thucydides]], a {{BCE|5th century}} Greek historian, wrote, "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."{{refn|Attributed to [[Pericles]] by {{cite book|author=Thucydides|title=History of the Peloponnesian War|title-link=History of the Peloponnesian War|at=II.40|translator-last=Zimmern|translator-first=Alfred E.}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Zimmern|first=Alfred E|title=The Greek Commonwealth: Politics and Economics in Fifth-Century Athens|year=1911|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=200|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.91012/page/200/mode/2up}}</ref>}}

=== Ancient Rome ===
In the [[Roman Empire]], courage formed part of the universal virtue of {{lang|la|[[virtus (virtue)|virtus]]}}. Roman philosopher and statesman [[Cicero]] ({{BCE|106–43}}) lists the cardinal virtues but does not name them as such: "Virtue may be defined as a habit of mind ({{lang|la|animi}}) in harmony with reason and the order of nature. It has four parts: wisdom ({{lang|la|prudentiam}}), justice, courage, temperance."{{sfn|McDonnell|2006|p=129}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Cicero|title=De Inventione|at=II.53}}</ref> However, Cicero held that "a courageous spirit in a human who has not attained perfection and ideal wisdom is generally too impetuous".<ref>{{cite book|author=Cicero|title=De Officiis|at=I.46|series=Loeb Classical Library|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1913}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

=== Western traditions ===
In ''De Officiis Ministrorum'', [[Ambrose]] echoes Cicero in holding reservations regarding those who exhibit courage without yet having demonstrated a general moral balance.<ref>{{cite book|author-last1=Tierney|author-first1= Brian|author-last2=Painter|author-first2=Sidney|year=1983|chapter=The Christian Church|title=Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 300–1475|edition=4th|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=Alfred A Knopf|isbn=9780394330600}}</ref> Ambrose held that fortitude without justice occasions injustice; since the stronger a man is the more ready to oppress the weaker.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ambrose of Milan|title=De Officiis Ministrorum|at=I.35.176}}</ref>

Courage is a natural virtue which Saint Augustine did not consider a virtue for Christians.{{dubious|reason=De Moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae xv, xxi, xxii|date=July 2023}}

===Eastern traditions===
The ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'' contends that courage is derived from [[love]] ({{lang|zh|[[:wikt:慈|慈]][[:wikt:故|故]][[:wikt:能|能]][[:wikt:勇|勇]]}}) translated as: "From love one gains courage."<ref>Chapter 67 (C. Ganson translation)
* {{cite web|url=http://www.zhongwen.com/|title=Traditional Chinese Characters|publisher=Zhongwen.com}} Tao Te Ching with [[Hanzi]] translations</ref>

In Hindu tradition, Courage ({{transliteration|sa|shauriya}}) / Bravery ({{transliteration|sa|dhairya}}), and Patience ({{transliteration|sa|taamasa}}) appear as the first two of ten characteristics ({{transliteration|sa|[[lakshana]]}}) of {{transliteration|sa|[[dharma]]}} in the Hindu ''[[Manusmṛti]]'', alongside forgiveness ({{transliteration|sa|[[kshama]]}}), tolerance ({{transliteration|sa|[[Temperance (virtue)#Hinduism|dama]]}}), honesty ({{transliteration|sa|asthaya}}), physical restraint ({{transliteration|sa|[[indriya]] nigraha}}), cleanliness ({{transliteration|sa|shouchya}}), perceptiveness ({{transliteration|sa|[[Dhi (Hindu thought)|dhi]]}}), knowledge ({{transliteration|sa|[[Vidya (philosophy)|vidhya]]}}), truthfulness ({{transliteration|sa|[[satya]]}}), and control of anger ({{transliteration|sa|[[akrodha]]}}).<ref>{{Citation |last=Toussi |first=Seyyed Khalil |title=Mullā Ṣadrā and the socio-political and cultural milieu |date=2020-02-24 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315751160-2/mull%C4%81-%E1%B9%A3adr%C4%81-socio-political-cultural-milieu-seyyed-khalil-toussi |work=The Political Philosophy of Mullā Ṣadrā |pages=19–50 |access-date=2023-06-21 |publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9781315751160-2 |isbn=9781315751160 |s2cid=214395786 }}</ref>

Islamic beliefs also present courage and self-control as a key factors in facing the Devil (both internally and externally). Many have this belief because of the courage the Prophets of the past displayed (through peace and patience), despite there being people who despised them.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

===Modern===
====Pre-19th century====
[[Thomas Hobbes]] lists virtues into the categories of moral virtues and virtues of men in his work ''Man and Citizen''.{{sfn|Hobbes|1972|pp=68–70}} Hobbes outlines moral virtues as virtues in citizens, that is virtues that without exception are beneficial to society as a whole.{{sfn|Hobbes|1972|pp=17–18}} These moral virtues are justice (i.e. not violating the law) and charity. Courage as well as prudence and temperance are listed as the virtues of men.{{sfn|Hobbes|1972|pp=68–70}} By this Hobbes means that these virtues are invested solely in the private good as opposed to the public good of justice and charity. Hobbes describes courage and prudence as strengths of mind as opposed to a goodness of manners. These virtues are always meant to act in the interests of individual while the positive and/or negative effects of society are merely a byproduct. This stems forth from the idea put forth in ''[[Leviathan (Hobbes book)|Leviathan]]'' that the [[state of nature]] is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" and self-preservation is the most fundamental aspect of behavior. According to Hobbes courage is a virtue of the individual in order to ensure a better chance of survival while the moral virtues address Hobbes's social contract which civilized men display (in varying degrees) in order to transcend the state of nature.{{sfn|Hobbes|1972|p=290}} Hobbes also uses the idea of fortitude as a virtue. Fortitude is "to dare" according to Hobbes, but also to "resist stoutly in present dangers".{{sfn|Hobbes|1972|pp=150–52}} This is a more in-depth elaboration of Hobbes's concept of courage that is addressed earlier in {{clarify|text=''Man and Citizen''|reason=not listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes#Works|date=July 2023}}.

[[David Hume]] listed virtues into two categories in his work ''[[A Treatise of Human Nature]]'': artificial virtues and natural virtues. Hume categorized courage as a natural virtue. In the ''Treatise'''s section "Of Pride and Humility, Their Objects and Causes", Hume wrote that courage is a cause of pride: "Every valuable quality of the mind, whether of the imagination, judgment, memory or disposition; wit, good-sense, learning, courage, justice, integrity; all these are the cause of pride; and their opposites of humility".{{sfn|Hume|1751|p=434}} 

Hume also wrote that courage and joy have positive effects on the [[soul]]: "...since the soul, when elevated with joy and courage, in a manner seeks opposition, and throws itself with alacrity into any scene of thought or action, where its courage meets with matter to nourish and employ it".{{sfn|Hume|1751|p=666}} Along with courage nourishing and employing, Hume also wrote that courage defends humans in the ''Treatise'': "We easily gain from the liberality of others, but are always in danger of losing by their avarice: Courage defends us, but cowardice lays us open to every attack".{{sfn|Hume|1751|p=459}}

Hume considered what excessive courage does to a hero's character in the ''Treatise'''s section "Of the Other Virtues and Vices": "Accordingly we may observe, that an excessive courage and magnanimity, especially when it displays itself under the frowns of fortune, contributes in a great measure, to the character of a hero, and will render a person the admiration of posterity; at the same time, that it ruins his affairs, and leads him into dangers and difficulties, with which otherwise he would never have been acquainted".{{sfn|Hume|1751|p=900}}

Other understandings of courage that Hume offered can be derived from Hume's views on morals, reason, sentiment, and virtue from his work ''[[An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals]].''

====19th century onward====

[[Søren Kierkegaard]] opposed courage to [[angst]],{{cn|date=July 2023}} while [[Paul Tillich]] opposed an existential ''courage to be'' with [[non-being]],{{sfn|Tillich|1952|p=89}} fundamentally equating it with [[religion]]:
{{blockquote|Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of non-being. It is the act of the individual self in taking the anxiety of non-being upon itself by affirming itself... in the anxiety of guilt and condemnation.... every courage to be has openly or covertly a religious root. For religion is the state of being grasped by the power of being itself.{{sfn|Tillich|1952|pp=152–183}} }}

[[J.R.R. Tolkien]] identified in his 1936 lecture "[[Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics]]" a "[[Northern Europe|Northern]] 'theory of courage'" – the [[hero]]ic or "[[virtuous pagan]]" insistence to do the right thing even in the face of certain defeat without promise of reward or [[salvation]]:
{{blockquote|It is the strength of the [[Norse mythology|northern mythological imagination]] that it faced this problem, put the monsters in the centre, gave them victory but no honor, and found a potent and terrible solution in naked will and courage. 'As a working theory absolutely impregnable.' So potent is it, that while the [[Greek mythology|older southern imagination]]  has faded forever into literary ornament, the northern has power, as it were, to revive its spirit even in our own times. It can work, as it did even with the ''[[goðlauss]]'' Viking, without gods: martial heroism as its own end.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://completejrrt.tv/tta_open/2$B.+Old+English+Tales+and+Literary+Works%5bSection%5d/8$The+Monsters+And+The+Critics%5bBook%5d/1$Beowulf..+The+Monsters+and+the+Critics%5bChapter%5d/0025.htm|title=Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics|last=Tolkien|first=JRR|publisher=The Tolkien Estate|page=25|access-date=2008-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015113632/http://completejrrt.tv/tta_open/2%24B.%2BOld%2BEnglish%2BTales%2Band%2BLiterary%2BWorks%5BSection%5D/8%24The%2BMonsters%2BAnd%2BThe%2BCritics%5BBook%5D/1%24Beowulf..%2BThe%2BMonsters%2Band%2Bthe%2BCritics%5BChapter%5D/0025.htm|archive-date=2007-10-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

Virtuous pagan heroism or courage in this sense is "trusting in your own strength", as observed by [[Jacob Grimm]] in his ''Teutonic Mythology'':

{{blockquote|Men who, turning away in utter disgust and doubt from the heathen faith, placed their reliance on their own strength and virtue. Thus in the [[Sôlar lioð]] 17 we read of Vêbogi and Râdey {{lang|non|â sik þau trûðu}}, "in themselves they trusted".<ref>{{cite book|last=Grimm|first=Jacob|title=Deutsche Mythologie (Teutonic Mythology)|publisher=Göttingen|location=Dieterich|year=1835|edition=1|language=de}}</ref>}}

[[Ernest Hemingway]] famously defined courage as "grace under pressure".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.neh.gov/humanities/1999/julyaugust/feature/celebrating-ernest-hemingway%E2%80%99s-century|year=1999|title=Celebrating Ernest Hemingway's Century|last=Carter|first=Richard|work=neh.gov|publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities|access-date=2009-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930035235/http://www.neh.gov/humanities/1999/julyaugust/feature/celebrating-ernest-hemingway%E2%80%99s-century|archive-date=2013-09-30|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Winston Churchill]] stated, "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all others."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winston Churchill |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00002969 |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00002969|doi-broken-date=8 April 2025 }}</ref>

According to [[Maya Angelou]], "Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage."<ref>Maya Angelou, ''Meeting Dr. Du Bois'' (audio interview by Krista Tippett, 2014)</ref> And [[C. S. Lewis]] wrote that "Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality."<ref>{{cite book|first=C. S.|last=Lewis|title=The Screwtape Letters|year=1942|at=letter XXIX}}</ref>

In ''[[Beyond Good and Evil]]'', [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] describes [[master–slave morality]], in which a noble man regards himself as a "determiner of values"; one who does not require approval, but passes judgment. Later, in the same text, he lists man's four virtues as courage, insight, sympathy, and solitude, and goes on to emphasize the importance of courage: "The great epochs of our life are the occasions when we gain the courage to re-baptize our evil qualities as our best qualities."{{sfn|Nietzsche|1989|p=65}}

According to the Swiss psychologist Andreas Dick, courage consists of the following components:<ref>{{cite book|first=Andreas|last=Dick|title=Mut – Über sich hinauswachsen|publisher=Hans Huber Verlag|location=Bern|year=2010|isbn=978-3-456-84835-8}}</ref>

# put at risk, risk or repugnance, or sacrifice safety or convenience, which may result in death, bodily harm, social condemnation or emotional deprivation;
# a knowledge of wisdom and prudence about what is right and wrong in a given moment;
# Hope and confidence in a happy, meaningful outcome;
# a free will;
# a motive based on love.

===Implicit Theories of Courage===
Researchers who want to study the concept and the emotion of courage have continued to come across a certain problem. While there are "numerous definitions of courage",<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247520291 | title=Implicit theories of courage | volume=2 | issue=2 | pages=81}}</ref> they are unable to set "an operational definition of courage on which to base sound explicit theories".{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=81}} Rate ''et al.'' states that because of a lack of an operational definition, the advancement of research in courage is limited.{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=81}} So they conducted studies to try to find "a common structure of courage".{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=81}} Their goal from their research of implicit theories was to find "people's form and content on the idea of courage".{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=83}} Many researchers created studies on implicit theories by creating a questionnaire that would ask "What is courage?".{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=83}} In addition, in order to {{clarify|text="|reason=where does this quote end?|date=July 2023}}develop a measurement scale of courage, ten experts in the field of psychology came together to define courage.{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=84}} They defined it as:
{{blockquote|the ability to act for a meaningful (noble, good, or practical) cause, despite experiencing the fear associated with perceived threat exceeding the available resources{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=84}}{{sfn|Woodard|2004|pp=174}}}}

Also, because{{non-sequitur|reason=why does the characterization of courage as a multi-dimensional construct mean that it is better understood as an exceptional response rather than a character trait?|date=July 2023}} courage is a {{clarify|text="|reason=where does this quote end?|date=July 2023}}multi-dimensional construct, it can be "better understood as an exceptional response to specific external conditions or circumstances than as an attribute, disposition, or character trait".{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=83}} Meaning that rather than being {{clarify|text=a show character|reason=what's that?|date=July 2023}} or an attribute, courage is a response to fear.{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=83}}

From their research, they were able to find the "four necessary components of people's notion of courage".{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=95}} They are:
#"intentionality/deliberation"{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=95}}
#"personal fear"{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=95}}
#"noble/good act"{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=95}}
#"and personal risk"{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=95}}

With these four components, they were able to define courage as:
{{blockquote|a willful, intentional act, executed after mindful deliberation, involving objective substantial risk to the actor, primarily motivated to bring about a noble good or worthy end, despite, perhaps, the presence of the emotion of fear.{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=95}}}}

To further the discussion of the implicit theories of courage, the researchers stated that future research could consider looking into the concept of courage and fear and how individual's might feel fear, overcome it and act, and act despite it.{{sfn|Rate|Clarke|Sternberg|Sternberg|2007|pp=96}}

=== "Clinical courage" ===

The term "clinical courage" came to light in relation to modern medicine in the 2000s,<ref name="pmid21453603">{{cite journal| author=Wootton J| title=President's message. Clinical courage. | journal=Can J Rural Med | year= 2011 | volume= 16 | issue= 2 | pages= 45–46 | pmid=21453603 | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21453603  }}</ref> mostly in relation to the practice of medicine in remote or resource-limited settings. It has been described as the practice of medicine outside of a clinician's usual scope of practice, or relevant clinical guidelines, in order to provide essential medical care, where no alternative exists.<ref name="Mallinson2020">{{cite journal|last1=Mallinson|first1=Tom|title=Clinical courage|journal=Journal of Paramedic Practice|volume=12|issue=11|year=2020|pages=429|issn=1759-1376|doi=10.12968/jpar.2020.12.11.429|doi-access=}}</ref> It has been specifically discussed in relation to rural generalists,<ref name="KonkinGrave2020">{{cite journal|last1=Konkin|first1=Jill|last2=Grave|first2=Laura|last3=Cockburn|first3=Ella|last4=Couper|first4=Ian|last5=Stewart|first5=Ruth Alison|last6=Campbell|first6=David|last7=Walters|first7=Lucie|title=Exploration of rural physicians' lived experience of practising outside their usual scope of practice to provide access to essential medical care (clinical courage): an international phenomenological study|journal=BMJ Open|volume=10|issue=8|year=2020|pages=e037705|issn=2044-6055|doi=10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037705|pmid=32847915|pmc=7451271|doi-access=free}}</ref> paramedics,<ref name="Mallinson2020"/> general practitioners,<ref name="WaltersLaurence2015">{{cite journal|last1=Walters|first1=Lucie|last2=Laurence|first2=Caroline O.|last3=Dollard|first3=Joanne|last4=Elliott|first4=Taryn|last5=Eley|first5=Diann S.|title=Exploring resilience in rural GP registrars – implications for training|journal=BMC Medical Education|volume=15|issue=1|year=2015|page=110|issn=1472-6920|doi=10.1186/s12909-015-0399-x|pmid=26134975|pmc=4487989|doi-access=free}}</ref> and rural medicine.<ref name="FoxCorstorphine2020">{{cite journal|last1=Fox|first1=Kevin|last2=Corstorphine|first2=Wendy|last3=Frazer|first3=Jenny|last4=Johnstone|first4=Anna|last5=Miller|first5=Alasdair|last6=Shepherd|first6=Neil|last7=Cooper|first7=Paul|title=Ten reasons why every junior doctor should spend time working in a remote and rural hospital|journal=Future Healthcare Journal|volume=7|issue=1|year=2020|pages=12–14|issn=2514-6645|doi=10.7861/fhj.2019-0050|pmid=32104759|pmc=7032586|doi-access=free}}</ref> The opposing theory is that of "clinical recklessness", in which the actions of a clinician in stepping outside of their competence results in unprofessional behaviour, which exposes patients to risk or harm.<ref name="Mallinson2020" />