Thank you, Jong Camallere, for this very interesting question.
Courage is a central element of many lists of virtues and it is certainly not difficult to understand why: people willing to take a stand for what they think is right serve as great role models. The adventures of great warriors also make for more exciting stories than the reserved and balanced lives of their counterparts who preferred to cultivate temperance, patience or kindness. Fostering the virtue of courage also had great practical implications for past societies that often required a sizeable number of young men willing to die for their country while repealing invaders or even doing some invading themselves.
And this is what makes courage problematic: we might be quick to name examples of brave heroes, but not every courageous person uses their strong character to fight for what we would call right. Soldiers attacking a neighbouring country might fight with plenty of courage (and they might even think that they are fighting for the right cause), but that does not make their actions commendable. Similarly, a violent criminal who stands up to a police force is certainly courageous, but it is not exactly the kind of courage we want. The ability to combat fear and uncertainty might be impressive and even praiseworthy, but only if it is used for the right reasons.
Similarly, not every courageous act is a good idea. Sure, we might all agree that it is cowardly to leave a group of friends behind in the face of danger, but the other extreme is also wrong: taking on five people in a fight all by yourself is not brave, but simply foolish. As with many virtues, courage makes sense only when applied in moderation.
That is why some philosophers believe that it is not enough to develop isolated virtues; they must be fostered all together, while learning an important skill: practical wisdom. Virtues such as bravery, humility and patience might give you an inclination to act in a certain way, but practical wisdom gives us the ability to distinguish what is required in a given situation and how to adapt our character traits to meet the moral challenge in front of us. There is no consensus on what practical wisdom actually means, but one thing is certain: the more virtuous you are and the more you try to apply practical wisdom, the easier it gets. Experience helps in all paths of life.
But saying that practical wisdom is the most important virtue would be cheating, because it could be seen as more of a skill than a virtue. I would still not root for courage, however, because it is only really useful when conflict with others arise, regardless of whether these conflicts are physical or intellectual in nature. Nobody needs to be brave when there is no threat to their life or values. I would say that we would be better off cultivating the virtues of care, friendship and justice. Who knows, if we focus on what we have in common and how we can help each other, then perhaps the ability to defend our values and beliefs would turn out to be quite overrated.
What do you think? Is courage the most important virtue? Let us know in the comments.
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Image: Achilles during the Trojan War
I did a BA and MA in Philosophy at the University of Warsaw, where I focused on philosophy of technology, hermeneutics and social philosophy with a Marxist slant (which I was suprisingly able to combine in my MA thesis on Gianni Vattimo). I am currently working on a PhD at Dublin City University, where I research self-tracking technologies and practices from the perspective of virtue ethics. My favourite philosophical idea is that our understanding and beliefs change across history and cultures together with material circumstances and the interpretative context – they are ultimately the result of our choices and critiques.