Define courage?

Question

Consider the following:
A)Throwing yourself on a grenade to protect the lives of your fellow soldiers
B)Blowing yourself up in a crowded market to protest a political regime
C)Confessing that u broke the valued object when u know people will be angry w/ u
d)Leaping across a large crevice on a dare
E)Sleeping w/ the light out for the first time

According to Socrates, before we could say that any particular act is courageous we would first have to understand what courage itself is. That is if some of the actions above are courages & others are not, we must have some characteristic (or criterion) by which we determine which are and which are not. So I have three questions: 1)What characteristic makes an act courageous? 2)Are the above actions all courageous? why/why not? 3) Since to call a person courageous is usually to praise that person, are all courageous acts ones that exhibit a moral strength of character?

Thanks

Answer 1

Courage is a simple matter of overcoming your fears.
It isn't an easy task, but to overcome your fears and stride forward despite what chills your bones, or strikes at your heart: that is courage.
It doesn't matter how great or small your fears are, to take those hard steps to overcome them is a courage. But like I said, as simple as that is? It is not an easy task for many, yet they do, and that is courage.

Answer 2

1) the definition of courage as according to dictionary.com is
cour·age –noun 1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.
i believe that courage is what makes us, if we didnt have courage, then there would be no society. If the civil war had not been fought, would there still be slavery? some things that are regarded as evil or not necessary are what define courage. Courage is anyone or anything that does what is right in a situation, whatever it is. Courageous people do not look a certain way, i think some of the most courageous poeple are those who have battled a terminal or critical disease and come out on top, not to say that the deceased are not courageous. Those people did not want to do what they did, but they had to do it if they wanted to live. Courage is what makes a person strong.
2) action A is a courageous action. The soldier was helping his fellow soldiers. my brother is a marine and would see this as the ultimate sacrifice, but part of the job. they are required to keep their men safe.
3) No courage is not moral stregnth of character. sometimes a person isnt meaning to have courage. The cancer patient who has chemo treatments is courageous, but they arent trying to save anyone but their life, but they are very courageous.
Courage is anything that will make something better. it takes a lot of love to do something that would risk a life, but to do that shows courage.

Answer 3

Courage is complex amalgam of ones ability to overcome fear while simultaneously applying reason and adhering to ones principles.
In example A if ones actions did indeed save the fellow soldiers and this was a foreseeable result of this action, then it was courageous. If the fellow soldiers perished anyways, than it lacked criterion adequate reasoning and was more instinctual.
In example B if the action was in some way responsible for or contributed to a positive change and the martyr fully comprehended his actions and the outcome it was courageous. If however, as is usually the case, the individual was able to be persuaded of a reward in the hereafter and was merely a pawn of a rival political ideology, then his action was a coerced means to an end.
I will not bore you with more analogy. Suffice to say that the courage or lack there of in any action is not easily defined and is very subjective. A persons willingness to face the uncertainty of every day is the simplest and perhaps most profound expression of courage and may be the bench mark by which all other acts may be measured. Thank you and God Bless!

Answer 4

I agree... courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway. So yes, all of those things are courageous, because you also have to take into account the person doing the act. For example, C: confessing you broke a valued object. It would take a lot of courage to admit that if you're admitting it to parents who get angry with you a lot, or who are abusive. Sleeping without a nightlight when you're terrified of the dark is courageous. For that person, though maybe people at large might go, "so what??".

Answer 5

1. i do not think there are set characteristics that make an act courageous, except for the ones that describe what an individual is feeling, these feelings are what describe courageous, not the outside views of others, not even the act itself, and most courageous people would have some of these feelings in common
fear, unknown outcome, pain, sacrifice, facing physical or mental discomfort, etc etc, the overcoming of the awareness of these, and still moving forth, is courage
to use a common phrase , its all really relative to the individual, what they think it is
2. all the above actions may or not be courageous for the person doing them, and depending on the circumstances, may or may not be considered courageous by those viewing them
3. no, all courageous acts do not fall into areas that others would praise, though they may be represent moral and strength to the person doing them
yet we do often call as courageous those acts that fall into our perception of moral and worthwhile acts of bravery
i can assure you, those who approve of the hitting of children dont call me courageous when i speak out on hitting children, nor do they think it brave of me to go against the culture around me and choose this stand to take with my own child, plus not allow any hitting of children for any reason within my home, car, etc the places i can have total control
yet others might consider it brave to stand up for my principles, no matter what verbal attacks or conflict it causes, and to do it when i know the conflicts will come,
yet i dont consider it an act of courage, just the way to be

Answer 6

To me, being courageous is to face my fears despite all obstacles. Going to the dentist can be courageous for someone deathly afraid of going there. It is each a personal battle within ones id. Like I would say for me, A, C, E are courageous acts; B and D seem pure stupidity to myself. Yes, I would say all courageous acts do exhibit moral strength - definitely. Even physical courage begins with a moral struggle to accomplish the act.

Answer 7

Courage is being afraid to do something, but doing it anyway.
If someone does something (like throw themselves on a grenade to protect the lives of fellow soldiers) but has no fear when doing that, it only appear courageous, but in fact the soldier was just doing what he was told and didnt even think about what he was doing so he didnt have courage, it was something else

Answer 8

Courage is facing your fears and acting logically from your particular perspective in spite of them.

In this context all of the above are courageous.

You may not like all of the choices people make from your perspective but you are not seeing it from theirs.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 9

Courage is a risk taken to attain a higher good.

Answer 10

1) Placing your life in jeopardy in order to rescue another whose life is also in jeopardy simply because you hope that somebody would do the same for you.
2) A, C, and E in that order of importance. See above answer for A. Because it's the right (righteous) thing to do for C. And because when your that young it is a very courageous thing in your eyes for E.
As for B it is an act of cowardice when you take innocent lives in the name of political protest.You obviously have a warped/perverted sense of justice.
And as for D it stands for just plain DUMB.
3) Simply put Yes.