Ancient Philosophy Works in Progress Talks

A recurring meeting held by Cinzia Arruzza to discuss works in progress with other ancient philosophy scholars in the Boston area. The presenter for this meeting will be Andrew Culbreth (Boston College): "Aristotle on the Role of Hope in the Virtue of Courage" Abstract: The virtue of courage is often treated by commentators as a unique virtue in Aristotle because, unlike other virtues, courage seems to produce a conflict of values within the agent, given its unavoidable connection to pain and fear. For some, this apparent conflict risks diminishing the courageous agent’s status as fully virtuous. For if courageous people must overcome the fear of pain, loss, or death in order to act courageously, then they must act against their inclinations and thus appear to be merely self-controlled (enkratic). Moreover, courage involves feeling fear, which is painful, but the life of virtuous activity is (for Aristotle) a pleasant one. In this paper, I argue that these apparent tensions in Aristotle’s account of courage can be resolved by looking at his remarks on the positive role of hope in proper confidence. I argue that hope is a crucial ingredient in Aristotelian courage because it provides the inclination to act despite the fear of pain or death, and because it helps to put that fear in proper perspective. In short, my view is that Aristotle’s remarks on hope’s connection to the noble in proper confidence allow us to explain how someone can be courageous (as opposed to self-controlled) and still experience the fear of pain or death.