Courage

[Anonymous No.7229340]

What is courage? What philosophers and writers do you recommend on it?

I think there is such beauty to this concept, specially to the simple idea that it is not the lack of fear but to work in spite of it. That is, to act without assurance, to move in spite of the odds, in spite of expectations, of reason itself, to trust one's inner fire instead of settling with the answer of the world. Is there any other way to make something happen? I'm going through the realization of my own lack of courage, for the moments that I've played safe and conformed to things as they were, turned to what was old and known, repeated myself, gave in to the chances.

I would appreciate some insight on this matter.
Fiction and poetry that addresses it is much welcomed too.

[Anonymous No.7229368]

>>7229340
Aristotle, Plato, etc. Most philosophers from Antiquity and Middle Ages speak about courage.

Since Descartes, when virtue-ethics were abandoned in favor of a more legalistic approach (Deontology, Utilitarianism), philosopher simply didn't deal anymore with the subject.

In fiction, it is everywhere. Epics for a start. Also genre fiction.

[Anonymous No.7229392]

>>7229368
>Since Descartes, when virtue-ethics were abandoned in favor of a more legalistic approach (Deontology, Utilitarianism), philosopher simply didn't deal anymore with the subject.

Except those who went against it, Nietzsche, Deleuze...

[Anonymous No.7229422]

>>7229340
>of reason itself
I don't think you should go against reason itself. Although it is important to realize what reason /is/.

Here is where many fail.
Because that is what many do, since they are scared of something they rationalize the reason they are not going to do something.. and don't do it. The actual logic behind their rationalization doesn't stand up though, but they still go along with it, because they are motivated to listen to their own shoddy logic because they are scared...

Humans are usually scared of everything they haven't done before, also for things they /have/ done before but perhaps it has gotten them a bad result. However even if you are afraid, or have bad success in the past you should still go along with it if you have logic on your side or else you are forever doomed to repeat the mistakes of your past or never get anywere /new/.

Logic is what sets us apart from animals but we still have the animalistic side to us. If we don't fight it, we are no better than animals.

[Anonymous No.7229465]

>>7229422
I suppose i should add to that, that going against logic in unimportant cases is generally a good thing. No matter the result you are going to get new experiences and this in itself is a benefit. Also; it's hard to be logical, and even if you are perfectly logical your logical system might not account for all the factors of reality(reality is simply too complex to represent all of it's variables in a logical system and account for them).

Still though. Grow thicker skin. What would upset one person might not even faze another.

[Anonymous No.7229844]

>>7229422
>>7229465
Reason and logic are against courage. It's like playing poker knowing everyone's hands, there is no risk after measuring the cost of your action. People who rely on logic and reason will always step back facing a situation they don't know. And why would one prefer to go to courage onlg at small accounts? isn't that a coward way to be brave? if you go all in only when you have a good chance of winning, you'll always see your opponents run away from it.

[Anonymous No.7230028]

>>7229340
There is a third element in absolute faith, the acceptance of being accepted. Of course, in the state of despair there is nobody and nothing that accepts. But there is the power of acceptance itself which is experienced. Meaninglessness, as long as it is experienced, includes an experience of the "power of acceptance". To accept this power of acceptance consciously is the religious answer of absolute faith, of a faith which has been deprived by doubt of any concrete content, which nevertheless is faith and the source of the most paradoxical manifestation of the courage to be.
—Tillich , The Courage to Be, p.177

[Anonymous No.7230321]

>>7229422
Bravery and courage is nothing without a dash of recklessness.

Charging headfirst through an open field to assault a machine gun nest to either destroy it or save a friend shows you have to remove yourself slightly from reason.

[Anonymous No.7230330]

>>7229340
Courage incarnate:

"


2.What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo."

[Anonymous No.7231625]

>>7230028
This is very good.

[Anonymous No.7231654]

>>7229340

" True courage consists in being courageous precisely when you're not. " - Jules Renard

[Anonymous No.7231818]

>>7229844
>if you go all in only when you have a good chance of winning, you'll always see your opponents run away from it.

truer doubles were never spoken.

[Rosalind Hursthouse !!IJ+t51r+x08 No.7231856]

>>7229340
Start with Aristotle. Read Nichomachean Ethics.

[Anonymous No.7232176]

>>7230330
That's being cocky.

[Anonymous No.7232202]

>The difference between a brave man and a coward is a coward thinks twice before jumping in the cage with a lion. The brave man doesn't know what a lion is. He just thinks he does.

[Anonymous No.7232211]

>>7229340
I like That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. Fiction/sci-fi. It's the last of a trilogy, but you don't need to read the first two, imo, to get anything that's going on. Like >>7229368 said it's everywhere in genre fiction, but this book really exists to study basic courage against horror.

[Anonymous No.7232217]

>>7232211
By horror i mean innocuous not lovecraftian/ modern day.

[Anonymous No.7233102]

>>7229844
Iv'e played poker, and i'm also good at it... If you go all in like a retard and you don't have the odds(i'm talking both card odds and psychological odds) in your favour you will lose out 9 times out of 10.

You people have to realize that there is a difference between being a pussy and being foolhardy.

[Anonymous No.7233119]

>>7229340

Didn't read the thread but I like the idea of courage/heroism as putting something on the line (your life, your dignity, your reputation, etc.) before taking action. It's putting your money where your mouth is.

[Anonymous No.7233420]

>>7233102
>You people have to realize that there is a difference between being a pussy and being foolhardy.
But this difference is not in the odds themselves, otherwise it would never be worth to go all in. Winning 1/10 is mathematical, logical, reasonable. I'm not saying that any hand calls for a large bet, odds will play a part as much as reason is part of us too and we can look at the cards and picture our chances, but we don't really know what the next cards are going to be. That unknown is the place that requires our courage. A strictly logical man could argue that he would only bet 100% of his money when he has 100% of chance of winning, but that's not a bet. That's why I think courage in card games can be better understood in the relationship between the people involved and not the mathematics of the cards. Besides being able to count cards, which is more or less something smooth to learn with experience, one must learn how to bluff, intimidate, read the other person's courage and adapt yourself and change the way you play when it is not working with a particular player, for example. The greatest thing about card games is that it is not just about luck and chance, but how you handle this chance, which is not actualized until the last card is drawn and all the bets are already placed. Reason knows and then acts, but courage acts and then knows.

[Anonymous No.7234255]

>>7232202
That quote misses everything. Courage means knowing the danger and then acting anyway. Acting out of ignorance has nothing to do with courage. 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.'