What Makes Someone A Coward?

Linda Besner suggests that the idea of “‘cowardice’ … holds less water as our society becomes more considerate of the psychological factors—like anxiety—that compound our behaviour.” She contemplates the meaning of bravery in a society in which “we’ve come to celebrate admissions of fear”:

In a 2010 article in Psychology Today entitled “The Meaning of Courage,” psychologist Dr. Richard Zinbarg wrote of his patients, “I am constantly inspired by their courageous confrontation of their fears and anxieties.” Zinbarg argues that fear is a prerequisite for bravery; if a man runs into a burning house to save someone without feeling any fear, he writes, it’s not really a brave thing to do. His hypothetical man’s name is Jim, and in explaining Jim’s behaviour, Zinbarg writes: “Two possibilities that come to mind are either that Jim exhibited a lack of intelligence or that he didn’t perceive danger in this situation.” Not only is it not brave not to be afraid, it may actually mean that you’re dumb.

The new formulation—bravery consists in admitting to one’s fears—makes it possible for all of us to consider ourselves heroes. … But without a moral category of cowardice, are we really entitled to a category of bravery? The argument that Fear is Courage sounds unsettlingly Orwellian, and paves the way for the simple admission of fear to replace overcoming it. The emotional risks of facing one’s feelings matter; but an inward-looking process focussed on self-actualization is different from a sense of duty to the wider world. If cowardice consists in failing the collective, bravery may be said to inhere in taking personal risks for the greater good.