COURAGE IN THE EVERYDAY AND IN

EXTREMIS:CIVILIAN AND

COMBATANT VIRTUE IN

Harry Potter

Laura Guidry-Grimes, M.A.Georgetown University, Philosophy Ph.D. Candidate

Ethics Awareness WeekYoung Harris College, Spring 2014

Aristotle’s EthicsHuman creatures can only achieve eudaimonia (flourishing/happiness) if we have virtues

Happiness as an activity, not a mere mental state

Happiness vs. pleasure

Virtues = excellence = being the best human you can be given your talents and circumstances

Universal virtues due to common humanity

384-322 BCE

Aristotle’s EthicsVirtue: “a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean relative to us […] it is a mean because the vices respectively fall short of or exceed what is right in both passions and actions” (NE II.6)

Focus on characterForming the right habits (ethos ) for the right reasons

Examine particulars of a specific case

Aristotle on Courage“a mean with respect to things that inspire confidence or fear […] and it chooses or endures things because it is noble to do so, or because it is base not to do so” (NE III.7)

“who faces and who fears the right things and from the right motive, in the right way and at the right time, and who feels confidence under the corresponding conditions” (NE III.7)

Hitting the Mean : FearExample: How much fear should the virtuous person feel when confronted by a Death Eater?If the person is a well-trained wizard/witch in battle…

If the person is a Squib or Muggle…

Deficiency Excess Mean

Deficiency Excess Mean

Aristotle on CourageFear

Virtue: balancing of desire for external goal (e.g., victory, glory) against desire to avoid countergoal (e.g., death) (Pears)

Confidence“an expectation that what brings safety will be close at hand, while what produces fear will not exist or will be far away” (Rhetoric II.5)

Why should the expectation of safety be relevant for courage?

Problem case: Spartans at Thermopylae

Confidence in safety as one type of confidence?Point of including confidence in courage: facing the fearful situation is (at least potentially) worth the risk from the perspective of the individual

What are the right things to fear?death in the noblest circumstancespain and suffering

What is the right motive?noble to do so/ base not to do soexternal goal outweighs aversion to countergoal (Pears)

When is it the right time ? What is the right way?

context-dependentrequire moral perception + moral imagination + experiential knowledge

Aristotle on Courage

Deficiency Mean Excess

Fear (nameless) bravery cowardice

Confidence cowardice bravery rashness

VICE

VIRTUE

Aristotle on Courage

Fe

Fm

Fd

Ce

Cm

Cd

falling shortcourag

e

Aristotle on Courage

Moral courage“willingness to speak out and do that which is right in the face of forces that would lead a person to act in some other way” (Lachman)

Fear of persecution, condemnation, being misunderstood in motive or deed, physical or social harms

Confidence in oneself as a moral actor and in the good achievable (Putnam)

Aristotle on Courage

Civilian - Combatant ShiftCourage to face the reality of war—when entering war, while fighting in the war, and retrospectively

“war sears memories, it brands the soul with images that can overpower and overwhelm” (Sherman, Untold War)

Fear of being killed AND fear of killing“The fear of losing one’s soul in war is real, felt over and over again by those who wear a uniform” (Sherman, Stoic Warriors ).

Example: Dumbledore’s concern for Draco’s soul in HBP

Requires confidence in oneself and in the cause for which one sacrificed

The Courage of Harry Potter

Thrust into dual civilian/war hero role when killing curse deflects and seemingly destroys Voldemort

By killing Harry’s family, Voldemort ensures that Harry is fully committed to defeating him

Unwavering confidence in the nobility of the cause

Only doubts himself as a moral actor when Voldemort possesses him or enters his mind (OP )

Greatest fear is not deathImportantly separates Harry from Voldemort

Boggart turns into dementor: “‘That suggests that what you fear most of all is—fear’” (PA 155)

The Courage of Harry Potter

Is Harry courageous when he chooses to sacrifice himself to end the war in Hogwarts and to destroy one more piece of Voldemort’s soul?

“Terror washed over him as he lay on the floor, with that funeral drum pounding inside him. […] Yet it did not occur to him now to try to escape, to outrun Voldemort” (DH 692)

Desire of external goal (victory over evil, safety of loved ones) outweighs aversion to countergoal (death)

No expectation that safety is close at hand…But confident that he and his friends are fighting a just cause

The Courage of Neville Longbottom

Stands up to his friends when they sneak out at night and jeopardize Gryffindor’s standing (in SS )

Some sacrifices are relatively mundane but nonetheless felt costs—loss of something valued (e.g., friendship)

“‘there are all kinds of courage […] It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends’” (SS 306)

The Courage of Neville Longbottom

Leadership role in rebellion in Hogwarts after war begins

Motivated by moral indignation at parents’ torture– but never do we see Neville perform an Unforgivable Curse

Is Neville courageous when he defies Voldemort and tries to kill the snake (without knowing why) after Harry’s apparent death?

Death of The Chosen One…no confidence in victory?

Retains confidence in the cause, himself, and his friends – refuses to accept Voldemort’s invitation, calls for support from “Dumbledore’s Army”

As double agent, civilian and combatant roles thoroughly blended together

Expresses fear for his soul more than any other fear

Does not want to kill Dumbledore: “‘And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?’” (DH 683)

Tries to save people—even while working for Voldemort—as often as possible

But still has to dirty his hands repeatedly: not stopping death of Charity Burbage, permitting Carrows’ evil in Hogwarts

“‘DON’T […] CALL ME COWARD!’” (HBP 604)

The Courage of Severus Snape

The Courage of Severus Snape

Confidence in the nobility of the causeMotivated by love of Lily, promise to Dumbledore, Voldemort’s betrayal

Though he often lacks confidence in Dumbledore’s methods: “Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter” (DH 687)

Confidence in himself as a moral actor?Should be shaken after his grievous misperception of what the noble cause really was

But has to be restored for his risk-taking to be worth it (and not merely reckless)

What counts as an appropriate level of confidence for him will be higher than it will be for someone who never suffered the same sort of setback

ConclusionsCourage translated from peacetime to wartime

What counts as the right conditions of fear and confidence will depend on

responsibilities and risks as civilian and combatantaims and methods of war

What would the virtuous person do?Look to heroes from literature, theatre, culture

Especially important for cultivating virtuous habits, teaching moral imagination, and honing appropriate emotional responses

Thank you!

ReferencesAristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. David Ross. New York: Oxford

University Press, 2009.Lachman, Vicki D. “Moral Courage: A Virtue in Need of

Development?” MEDSURG Nursing 16.2 (April 2007): 131-133. Pears, David. "Courage as a Mean" in Essays on Aristotle's Ethics. Ed.

Amelie O. Rorty. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. Putman, Daniel. “The Emotions of Courage.” Journal of Social

Philosophy 32.4 (Winter 2001): 463-470. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York:

Scholastic, Inc., 1998. ___. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, Inc.,

2007. ___. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic, Inc.,

2000. ___. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic,

Inc., 2005. ___. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic,

Inc., 2003. ___. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Scholastic,

Inc., 1999. ___. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic,

Inc., 1997. Sherman, Nancy. Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the

Military Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. ___. The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our

Soldiers. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010.