Value

Is courage a virtue or is is simply the ability to conquer fear?

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These options needn't be mutually exclusive, right? A common definition of virtue is "a habitual disposition to act in accordance with the good for its own sake." If courage is the ability to conquer fear, and conquering fear is good, then assuming that the ability is a habitual one and not some kind of flash-in-the-pan inspiration, the answer to your question would be "both."

Aristotle counted courage as a virtue, and pointed out that virtue is found in the mean between the opposed extremes of deficiency and excess. The ability to overcome fear, if carried to excess, would not be the virtue of courage, but rather the vice of rashness.

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