Plato's Definition Of Courage
Courage is a theme that occurs in almost every movie and every book in modern society. The question of what it takes to be courageous has been addressed time and time again. In Plato’s Republic, he gave his own address of courage. His definition contains quite a bit of widely accepted truths, but at the same time, his definition does contain controversial elements. In this paper, I will argue that Plato’s argument is partially correct but contains serious flaws. This will be done with a real-life example of an individual who undoubtedly demonstrated courage.
Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was a physician in Nigeria. She became the first Nigerian to contract the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (or simply “Ebola” as it is generally referred to) after …show more content…
In the “ideal state” established in the book, courage would fall in the auxiliaries, the soldiers. Auxiliaries would be considered “courageous” if they would push through things that were dangerous or feared. They would have courage if they followed orders given to them by their rulers (Republic 429a-430a). Courage in the individual works exactly the same (Republic 442a-442c). Reason, the ruler of the soul, establishes what fears are rational and irrational, and the spirit, the part of the soul containing courage, knows when the body should stand up to what should be …show more content…
In dealing with soldiers in an ideal state, Plato’s definition works. A soldier is expected to follow the orders of his or her superior, even if the orders could result in death. When dealing with an individual though, I find this to be only a fraction of what courage consists of. Yes, we have things that we fear, which could very well be because Reason taught us what we should and should not fear. Courage, like that of Dr. Adadevoh, comes from acting in the face of dangers that we have never even considered. Why are we afraid of the dark? It’s not because darkness is scary in and of itself. It’s because we don’t know what’s in the dark. We fear mystery, that which we do not know. Plato was correct in his belief that courage is preserving beliefs even when the situation makes us afraid, but his account is lacking because courage requires more than preservation through things we have been
Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was a physician in Nigeria. She became the first Nigerian to contract the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (or simply “Ebola” as it is generally referred to) after …show more content…
In the “ideal state” established in the book, courage would fall in the auxiliaries, the soldiers. Auxiliaries would be considered “courageous” if they would push through things that were dangerous or feared. They would have courage if they followed orders given to them by their rulers (Republic 429a-430a). Courage in the individual works exactly the same (Republic 442a-442c). Reason, the ruler of the soul, establishes what fears are rational and irrational, and the spirit, the part of the soul containing courage, knows when the body should stand up to what should be …show more content…
In dealing with soldiers in an ideal state, Plato’s definition works. A soldier is expected to follow the orders of his or her superior, even if the orders could result in death. When dealing with an individual though, I find this to be only a fraction of what courage consists of. Yes, we have things that we fear, which could very well be because Reason taught us what we should and should not fear. Courage, like that of Dr. Adadevoh, comes from acting in the face of dangers that we have never even considered. Why are we afraid of the dark? It’s not because darkness is scary in and of itself. It’s because we don’t know what’s in the dark. We fear mystery, that which we do not know. Plato was correct in his belief that courage is preserving beliefs even when the situation makes us afraid, but his account is lacking because courage requires more than preservation through things we have been