Heroism and Fortitude

7 Pages·1973·2.321 MB·English

by  Josef Pieper

Heroims adnF rotuidet
JosePfei per
JofsP eiepwehrioa, sm ontghm eo tsr espeacntwdei dd reelapydh siolposh er
oft hpeer sednatyw a,bs o rnne aMru ntseGre,mr aniy1n,0 9 4H.es tudied
phsiolpoJhuyr,i spraunsddoe cnicoeal,tto hUgeny ei rvsoifMt uynt searn d
alastBo e irnIl.tn h ceo sueor fh icsa rheeeh raa stv ariotmuiesws o rkaesd
an atsasanitatss oicolorgeisrcehcaia lnt sitaunthdea b se eanf reaen-cle
writer1.49 6hS ehi anbsce eeo nnt hfeau cylo tft hUen eisrvtiy Moufnt ser,
wheartpee r sehneit ps or fesosfpo hlrio sopahnitochparoll Hoegh yas.sp ent
consideriatnbh lUeeni tStetidam tehe ansvg,si evredv aiss ipotrfiensgs or
atN oetD ram(e91 50a)nS dt an(f1 o59r6ad n 1d69 2,a) nhda tsa uaglhois tn
IndainJada p.aI n1n6 97h ew aasp pnotiecdee nntnpiorafle sastto hre
UneisrviotfTy or ontCoa,n aadnaid,1n 6 98h er eecievd Atqhueia nsM edal
oft hPeh islooprhs'eC onrgeshse lidNn e wO ralnes.
OfP rofreP siseopveolrmu'isn owursi sta,in nugmebra raeva ilaibnl e
Engilsahm.o ng TthhFeeo muCr a radliVn lftPureusdc.ee Jn.u tscieF.o rtitude,
Tempaenrc(e91 65;)a ne ssoany tP'olPsah eadrcualsd lE entuhsaims and
DiviMnaed ne(s91s64 )A;G udiet oT homAaqsu i(n9a162s;) a ndwh,a Its
perhhasipb sets k-nowwno rLke,i stuhrBeea ,ss o ifC ult(u91r36e.)T hese
anodt hbeoro kPso rfbey sPsioerhp aevrte od atbee etanrn stleiadn ttwoe lve
languagaenshd a vseo lde t mhoaarmn iolncl oipies.
1
C
an the "hero" be conceived as the principal figure of a great modern
novel or a drama? Is "heroism" to be found in the real life of con­
temporary society? The first of these questions might he answered im­
mediately with a spontaneous "no." Obviously the age of the heroic epic
is a thing of the past. Yet we observe that the popular literature of our
time abounds in heroes of adventure, is full of hero worship. Even in
works produced under totalitarian regimes, glorification of the worker­
hero is as evident as the "cult of personality" that supports the political
leader. At the same time, we should recall that some of the great poetic
works of the past, which we may have regarded as fundamentally simple
in their portrayal of the heroic type, are actually sophisticated and multi­
faceted in this respect-as Schiller, for one, acknowledged when he ob­
served, in connection with the Ilitahadt a,ft er all it is Patroclus who lies
buried and Thersites who returns. And those who in my opinion are the
finest modern writers remain greatly interested in heroism, even where
they appear, like Virgil, Calderon, and Cervantes before them, to reject
it. Perhaps the modern difference is only that we realize a liule better
than past ages seem to have done how hidden, how emlangered, how close
to caricature true heroism is, and how easily it can be misconstrued.
II
The second question, whether heroism is to be found at the present time
in real life, requires us to suppose that we know what "true" heroism is.
And if we conceive of this mainly or exclusively as exceptional ability,
developed through extraordinary effort in any sphere-football, boxing,
scientific experimentation, or landin1,1; on the moon-or, similarly, if we
demand of the "hero" exceptional success, the brilliant fortune of the
general, the surgeon, and the politician that captures the popular imag­
ination, then we arc saying that the hero is nowadays as much alive as he
ever was-for heroism in this sense is not less evident in the contemporary
world than it was in previous epochs. But what if we conceive it other­
wise? \Vhat if we recognize and accept the fact that the essence of true
heroism is the virtue of fortitude-that it is through this virtue, indeed,
that the "hero" differs from the average man? Because if we do this, we
51
The Hero and the Heroic Ideal
shall have to acknowledge that fortitude cannot be described except
through a multitude of ostensibly (or perhaps seemingly) contradictory
characteristics. And if we concede that this is so, we shall understand
better than we are otherwise likely to do how it is that the image of the
hero in the great works of world literature (which is based to a large
extent upon the idea of fortitude), far from being as simple as our notion
..
of the "true hero ol real life, is instead bewilderingly ambiguous.
Fortitude is one of the four cardinal virtues; the others arc prudence,
justice, and temperance. For more than two thousand years these virtues
have been looked upon, in the tradition of \Vestern thought, as a kind of
four-color spectrum in which the concept of the "good" person fans out.
In the formulation of this spectrum, all the original forces of the
Occident-the Greeks and the Romans, Judaism and Christianity-par­
ticipated. This explains why the concepts of "prudence," "justice, .. and
"temperance" are also complex for us, and even contradictory in their
elements, quite as much as "fortitude" is, which came into being in the
same manner.
Ill
The concept of fortitude will be misunderstood if the world-view that
underlies it is not clearly comprehended. The German author Bertolt
Brecht says: "When I hear that a ship needs heroes for sailors, I ask
whether the ship is not too old or moldering away.·· In his opinion there
is something rotten about a state that forces the average man always to
be brave. "The world-an abode for heroes: where do we come in
then? !" A similar idea appears (as Brecht would not have suspected)
fifteen hundred years earlier in the writings of Saint Augustine. Fortitude,
Augustine says in The City of God,* is a testimony to the existence of evil
-by which he means that fortitude is necessary because, in the world,
e,·il is powerful, i, even at times a supe1ior force. In vie" ol thi,, to be
bra,·e can be taken to mean that something must be risked whenever the
obviomly weak offers resistance to evil. And nobod who ,,·i,hcs to be a
)
good human being, and who is unwilling to commit an injustice. can
avoid this risk.
Christianity has always been convinced that something really is , a• s
Brecht 1c111ark,. rotten in the "·mid. This is not, of course, the same thing
a, "'" ing that the world i, absurd-an exi,te11tialist thesis which may
see111 ('\'t•11 11101-c terrible. though ( 11rioush enough it causes contemporary
man le\\' difficulties. :\o, here it i, ,tatecl: the world. along with existence
ih('II. h;"' lmt the primordial order: hut, like existence, it still remains
cap;1l,k ol good and is dircrted tow;1rcl it. :\t the same time, the good is
1101 1eali1cd l,y itself, but require, lor 1hat end the cllort ol an individual
wl10 is 1l'illi11g lo struggle and ii netessan to san-ilicc 011 its behalf. It is
si111ph a lihcialistic ill1ision to belicn· th;1t one ran be comistc11tlv just,
52
Josef Pieper
foerx ampwliteoh,u hta vitnorg ki ssmoetighn foirt T.h aitsw h fo­r
)
ttiudiesn ecersy\s.Vha at rikises ,di fth oecc asiaorenism s,a yh es ome­
thilnegts hsna l eii fsteIlfmt.a yi metad aqh uee stoifoi nm mieadwteel l­
beinogfd, a itlaryn quyi,pl olesissts,ih oonnsoorrf, a caev-isnOgnt. h e
othhearn dw,ht ai sr qeueidrm ayh et hse urrendoeflr ei ,fo rm ore
exactthlaeyc ,c eptoafdn eacteah t a onthehra'bms.T hem artiystr h e
utlimesa ytmbooffl o rtitude.
Int hetseer omfsc ,o urfsroett,iu diesb o tahv irftuudneam enatlrley­
quierdo fe veryaonntdeh e es seonf"c eher somi.A"n di ft haits tshoe,n
"hoeirsimvs"i aibnle ev eargyet d,oa nyo l etshsa inn ttihmoeef H omer
ori nt htao ft hSeon g of the Sibrlzwgs. But insio tt tfhorires a sao n
quatlyti hta eiass iidlteyiin afbalneid,ot l ·Hiocmalonytn h er epresented
adeuaqtyei lnt huenp rolbemca,rt aidifiagnutor fte h "eh re.o"
IV
Foiruttdei sn oat na bosluitdele n,ao irs i te vefno remaomsotnt gh e
cardviinratlIu stre aesl.ai itzoinsl n ikedt os everrqeauelim renAt bsr.i ef
adaogfeS aiAnmtbr ossett ae:"s Frotuidtem mt noti ebtflr.Iu"tms at­t
terltsit tlheta w"eil vdean gerously," acciognr tdo� ieztsec'hmsa xim,
burtta hetrht aw el eaad" g o"ol deiF.fo r tthhveii sr otfup erdu enicse
thfier nsetc ietsTysh.ta i st os awye,m usbtea blteor egcnoeit zheel e­
mentosfl ei afst heryae llaryae n dt ot rsalnattheir seg cnotoiini nto
resuotnli aonadc itonO.th eriwsbee,c atuhsfeee r afiuesln c ountaesar ed
satrrke layi titnhw eo rlwdem, a yb e feianral m easnsnt ehrtas hould
nobte c onfu,isvhet tdr ufreo ti-tausdf,eo erx ampwlhee,wn e m akae
falesavel tuiaoonfd agneror,w hewne arrekecl efsrsoa mn i nbaiiylt to
lovaent yhionrga nyo(n"eF eiasflr ee ign loev,s"a ySsai nAtu guisn.et )
Sigmdu Fneruda'sss enr tthtiam ooshte riossmt efmrso m isnantnci tive
covniicottnh ta" Nohtincga hna ppteon me" iass eetnt rshuapeto s i­n
sibhledy i ndo pte crei-vtehdee espe nisn·ew ihciht s eietsnh t af oorn e
whol ovgeoso, dd eactahnn obt ee nteilreyv i(laSs o ctreaasl,no gw iht
SaiPnat,ur lelazieadnd a ffirm.e d)
Anothreerqi urmeenotft rufero ttiudiesj sutiTcheef. ro tdieto uf a
cirminiaasm l is contcieotpnh;ea rrene o c irmniahleo reOsu.gr e naetrion
iasw atrhetat hfeur isot ff rottiudcea bne c ourprtbeydi jnusitcceh,i efly
byt hien jiucoseftp oilctaiplow er\V.e h ave cokmnoewfi rtsot htahned
truotfht hoel add a:g" eThep raiosffe ro tdieti usc otnnigenutp no
justi\Vchee.n"u sIet dh iisnt hsee coyneda orf� ationSoacli alist
tryann(9y1 34)t hames o ttoofm ys hohroto kO,n t hie\11' (111ing of
Fortitude, myf renidism mdeiatreelcnyozig eidst d anogueirsm palitioc;n s
andt hewseer perb oabnloyit cedw ealbslyo hterwsh ow erlee ksisdn ly
dispotsoewdam red.
_____
•GBWW,V ol1.8 p,p1 .2- 6918.
53
ThHee raon dt hHee roIidce al
V
Ihta bse esna tihdta hthe re oi sf giaue rw hospero peerl emiewsna trA .n d
iti spr ceisoenlt yh piosmi thtat hceo mepxliotfty h rele atiobnes­hip
tweheenor isamn fdo irtdtuec omteost hfeo rmeo sdtr atmiaacllOynt .h e
onhea ntdh,ee m rayb ea germeentth afrtot tiudper epspuostehsce o n­
floifch otis ltfeoc re;is mta nfiesisttefsil nc obmatth,o urng1h/J1 a11d ocs
nonte cersismlaeya nw a.r Evewnh erietd oemse awna ri,td oenso t
necaerlsiysm eaenn thuswiaarTs.hte ircie sa sttaemte bnyT homas
Aquniaass,t heirosen bey A riosttlteot, h eeffe ctth apte rhtahpbeset etr
soldaireteroh ssw eh o arbcr alvHeeers.cst hweo rdjc1 rhaj1isst ob e
undeirenldf,o irt briasv aenradyg gsrseeinvetshtsad isgtuiitnshhe born
slodiBeurtt.h iasstmo etighnd fifeenrTth.es urreonfod neelr'e isw,f hhi c
cnab ed emanodfe sdoa d lieirnt hjesu tde efnsoeft hcemo muny,ic tan
scaerlbcyee xpecwtietdht ohumeto rlav irtouffe ot triude.
Ont he ohtahnweder,a rmeo raep ttop ericvaeen hdo ntohre ihne ro
thfieg uorfce o nqruoterh ainno nweh om ereslueyffr Asn.d sn icfeo tri­
tudmee anprsce isteoel nyd eu" rwoundsi"n crueordn b ehaloff j suitce
(rfoml oosfsr eupttaioonrw ell-tboie impnrgi seonnotmrb odihlayr m),
wea rea lrlleooyki gn·w,h ewne c otnemplsoamteewo nheoh amsa neisfted
thviistr uaet,t haen tthieosfti hs"e c ouneqrr.oS"uh c pae rsdooncn so t
vanqhu,i sshaec riIfintc heuestl .i matteoesft f ro tuidet,w hhi icmsa tryr­
domt,h eirses oaulbetlnyo itghno ft hvei ocrtiotuhusog,ht hcihsra atcer­
istiis ce ensttsiooa ulmr o rues ucaoln tceipoonft hhee raosc onqruoer.
Nori tsh eres puapsnotiyi otnht af rotdieto urh ermo wiisblels pokoefn
int rcuaes oefms a tryrdIosfmu .ct hhn igasr tef oc,ui sitsas el domsats ure
sign noti hnasntct oeafg euninfreot dieth uaosc ucrerd.\ Vheinct o mteos
ap ornogprahinco vwelh,i cmahy b eh alieads "daorr"i obndlg,'t''h' e
authoirnr aelirtiysn kohsti nFga.mr o rceo u·reaa ngdp ehrapgseu nine
fottriudiers e uqrietdoc aslulca ph r oudcrte gpnuaonrt ,st aioy np ublic
thaptu riitsay f unmdeantealle mtoe fnh umadni gnTiatlyok.ft he
"marr"ta )lwao)ccsuJ1 orssfle uslm.I n atchoteff rottiudisete lsfu,ca h
persdooncn so atpp eatrob ea mar)'th )uitsr athteharec custheed ,
prsiontehrce,ar n,ko rt hleo nweof la,Jl nadonacndrd i dlie;cad uobvael l,
hep orvehsis meftl oh ea m uet.P erhdaoupbsct \ 'pcenn ettehrsia osw n
heasrott h,fa rottt iudisetef ml ayb ei nq uestiloena,vh iinmtgo s pceule at
whethheei rrs a el} dler Durnme (th"deu mb"o ne)i nt heen d.
Thufso iruttdie,s a LCionrtgdo i tvsc rn)a lcu,1r1 0l1c hv inoufct he
stronlgieiurmt t catdh aotft hseem eingvlaynu sqih.e. d- \rcdgciloniyt,
caanml osltis ea lihdw aeta crd aelgiw nilafh la sheooidn ptrhaeeiv gl in
noitoo1lt1 eh " he,ro"w'hh i Yciclasn pdc rr,stt· ehce sesntqiuaallel isoi f
gcltleli llolndiel1.ll sl houhlerd e mbeemretdh ailnt hnec so ft he
a<li lcllleid hte i<sc ic ivrtrieo!nol ro ruld<icmt oi,tpeirdli lhLi tlsllta ed­
fsanteassn d naollatkc iignn.
54
Josef Pieper
To he sure, the coin must be LUrned over again so that its reverse side
is displayed. The reverse side is that this mortal steadfastness of the
martyr has always been understood as a victory and celebrated as such,
not only from the Christian standpoint but also from that of Plato's
Socrates. "\Ve conquer while we are being slain," wrote Tertullian. \Vl10
was ultimately the victor: the boasting· commandant of Auschwitz or the
Polish Franciscan father ;\Jaximilian Kolbe, who, in order to save a fellow
man, went into the starvation bunker and perished miserably there?
In spite of everything the martyr is truly a "hero," and so is every unim­
posing or unknown individual who risks his life for the sake of truth and
good, whether in the pointedly dramatic act of martyrdom or in lifelong
devotion-in acquiescence to the absolute will of �od at the cost of one's
own worldly comfort. The great Santa Teresa of .\Yila writes in her auto­
biography that an imperfect human being needs greater fortitude to
travel the path of perfection than to take martyrdom upon himself in a
brief moment. Perhaps this statement, based upon life experience,
renders a little more plausible the term heroic virtue, which is the
sign um of a hallowed life in the Christian tradition.
VI
From time immemorial, heroism has been looked upon as inseparable
from honor and glory; the hero is, by the same token, always the cel­
ebrated, the one distinguished by universal acclaim. It is not customary
to reduce this stature even if he seeks self-recognition and accomplishes
his deeds for that reason. Strangely enough, the great teachers of Chris­
tianity have regarded the virtue of fortitude in much the same way,
designating as one of its fundamental elements rnagnanimitas, which
seeks high honor above all else and makes itself worthy of such. b this in
keeping with the conception of that virtue, the highest act of which is
supposed to be martyrdom before the triumphant force of evil? It is con­
sistent with that conception under one condition, namely, that one is
capable of realizing the idea of gloria, which the ancients defined as clara
cum Laude notitia and by which they meant the state of "becoming
acknowledged publicly," the attainment of recognition through God
himself. This also means the infallibly true sanction by the Sovereign of
the world who, in the presence of the whole of creation, at once declares
and effectuates that it is "glorious" to be what one is.
l fear that whoever, for whatever reason, is incapable of ancpting this
dimension of reality-the life beyond death-will have to he on his guard
against the danger of being fascinated by a pseudo-hero borne on the ac­
claim of the entire world. From the time of John at Patmos to that of
Wladimir Solowjew, Christendom has held a certain idea about the end
of the world. This idea implies that in the final age we must be prepared
55
The Hero and the Heroic Ideal
foarfi geuw rho, thouulgithm aptteehr nes ioafiitcoonf e vliw,i lbela
hero boefwt iciahn g sprhl tiehnedruotnokn otwoan l olfm aknidn:t he
AnthriicsHti.asm l ositrr esstiiabllrleeau ndu neirvlsf aamwei lovle r­
shadaolwol t hfelares h erooefhs si towrhyi,hl iegs l olbt ayrnaywn ill
fortcreuf reott iudiemo t hmeo smte rlecsiosft riIatwl isfl.ul hr etrre nder
toltayul nrceoginzatbhlfieros tt iudteh,ee s seonfac legl ne uinhee rsmo­i
thveit ruoefm arytrs.
* * * * *
I cannott hscieosene cpwthioyofh n e riosmb,ot thh ter uaen dt hfea lse,
sohulldo esvee anni oaot fv iialbyii ntt hper esaegnoetr i nt hfetuu re.
56