Aristotle on Bravery and Friendship

Bravery

Aristotle raises the concept of bravery in Book III of the Nicomachean Ethics, and he defines bravery, as possessed by an individual, to be the capacity to be unperturbed, as far as a human being can possibly remain unperturbed. The brave person may fear any sort of thing, be it something too frightening for the general populace, or perhaps something much less frightening, but he will stand firm against these frightening things in the right manner, according to reason, for the sake of all that is fine and good. To the brave person, bravery is fine and noble, thus the end that it aims at is also fine, since every action is defined by its end. In this particular instance of bravery, the fine is the end that virtue aims at.

The virtue that Aristotle extols is an excellence of the self, or a disposition to do what is right at the right time with knowledge of the particulars of a situation. As such, bravery is construed as a virtue in different situations, but these other sorts of things may differ from true bravery. There is the bravery of citizens to consider; citizens who stand firm against dangers, aiming to achieve honors without garnering reproach or penalty. In this case, the virtue achieved by desiring to act for what is fine, specifically honor, makes this type of bravery closer to true bravery. There is also bravery via the spirit: humans who act on spirited eagerness to face danger as they intend to act towards the fine, or virtuously so. However, spirit on its own must be accompanied by rational