De los Cuidados Psico-oncológicos

Let us move on to a different characteristic to which Nietzsche accords great

respectability: “courage” (BGE 284, p.214) or “bravery” (GS IV, 283, p.160). To begin

with, it is necessary to clarify what Nietzsche means by the notion of courage here. He

seems to identify the quality with the disposition to “live dangerously” (Ibid. p.161), or

figuratively, to “wage wars” (Ibid. p. 160), and to symbolise it by the metaphor, “warrior”

(Z I, 10, p.75). According to Nietzsche, further, he who “possesses courage” “sees the

abyss” “with an eagle’s eyes” and “grasps the abyss with an eagle’s claws” (Z IV, 13, 4, p.

298). Nietzsche thus suggests that courage consists in the tendency to choose painstaking,

sacrificial, or dangerous courses of actions and to resolutely follow such choices. So a

courageous man is distinguished from those who fail to see the inevitability of difficulties

or dangers in the first place, and also from those who easily become timorous in front of

their weighty goals, and are likely to hesitate to take chosen actions by reminding

themselves of the ‘unpleasant’ consequences. But the notion of courage seems to be

say, for Nietzsche, courage also has to do with ‘fear’ and contains some disposition related

to that particular emotion, and especially in this respect, Nietzsche’s usage of the relevant

term seems to be similar to the ordinary one. Briefly, courage contains ‘fearlessness’,

“self-possession” (BGE 284, p.214) or composure. A courageous person is thus contrasted

with a “cowardly” one who is “always worrying, sighing, and complaining, and “who

gleans even the smallest advantages” (Z III, 10, 2, p. 208). However, that ‘fearlessness’ as

a defining characteristic of courage should be further qualified. Firstly, Nietzsche’s

courageous men are in essence ‘fearless’ in the sense that they do not fear irrationally or

absurdly. It is this reason Nietzsche associates courage with “knowledge” (D V, 551,

p.222). That is, courageous men do not wrongly attach the significance of pain or risk to

painless or safe things, and are thus distinguished from those who experience fear due to

their superstitious thoughts. Nor do the courageous ‘exaggerate’ the pain or danger of

future courses of events or states. Secondly, and more significantly, courageous men are

fearless, not in the sense that they are pathologically “cold-spirited”, but in that if they

‘rightly’ experience the emotion of fear in their awareness of a painful or risky course of

action, they succeed in subduing their fear, and thus, restore calmness. Hence, they can be

sides of their willed actions. Now, fearlessness or self-possession construed as such is

relevant to the ‘tendency’ we have just discussed: the former emotional disposition is one

constituent of the tendency to pursue demanding or dangerous decisions. Nietzsche writes:

Do you possess courage, O my brothers? Are you stout-hearted? … I

do not call cold-spirited, mulish, blind, or intoxicated men stout-hearted.

He possesses heart who knows fear but masters fear … (Z IV, 13, 4,

p.298).

However, our definition still seems to be lacking and it is essential to present some

supplementary remarks on the intrinsic nature of courage. Strictly speaking, courage, as

Nietzsche does seem to define it, consists in the tendency to resolve to do dangerous or

painstaking actions not onlylikely to achieve given ends, but also capable of being taken

(WP 918, p.486). That this constitutes the intrinsic nature of courage could be inferred

from the fact that Nietzsche does conceive of self-confidence or self-esteem as the

condition of the possibility of courage (WP 918, p. 468). Moreover, as Nietzsche suggests

defined negatively, and the courageous person would not dare to take such a painstaking

or dangerous action, if the person cannot perform it or it is not necessary for the person’s

cause or goal. And this presupposes the reflection on his belief in the ‘necessity’ of the

difficult or dangerous action, and the correct estimation of the possibility of the attainment

of his aim through the action conceived to be helpful. Courage thus involves the ability to

make reasonable choices as well as bold ones. Similarly, figuratively put, courageous men

would dare to “wage wars”, only if the latter are possible, necessary, and winnable. By

contrast, those who lack courage tend to choose or act boldly but do so recklessly, that is,

in accordance with their wrong beliefs in the ‘possibility’ or ‘necessity’ of dangerous or

painstaking actions. Those people often choose or attempt such actions, in cases where the

latter are impossible or utterly useless for their causes, e.g. in hopeless situations. For

instance, they could plunge into water in order to save drowning persons, not knowing

how to swim. Furthermore, courage by definition involves the correct anticipation of the

negative consequences of actions that are necessary for, or instantiate, desired or willed

objectives. Courageous men thus necessarily “see the abyss”, that is, are fully aware of the

dangerous, painful, or sacrificial characteristics of the possible actions necessary for their

not operate blindly. Nietzsche says:

“Should one follow one’s feelings?” – That one should put one’s life

in danger … under the impulse of the moment, that is of little value

and does not even characterises one. Everyone is equally capable of

that- and in this resolution, a criminal, a bandit, and a Corsican

certainly excel decent people. A higher stage is: to overcome even this

pressure within us and to perform a heroic act not on impulse – but

coldly, raisonnable, without being overwhelmed by stormy feelings of

pleasure (WP 928, p.490).

Finally, and most importantly, as the foregoing passage also suggests, Nietzsche’s

courageous men are not those who decide to pursue any demanding or risky cause, that is,

to pursue such ends regardless of their dangers or the difficulties involved. Rather,

Nietzsche would seem to further qualify courage as the tendency to commit oneself to

‘noble’ or ‘honorable’ causes, and not to run risks for ‘unworthy’ ones. Having said that,

significance within itself.25 Put in another way, according to Nietzsche, a genuinely

courageous man would not choose to achieve demanding things, if these were of ignoble or

dishonorable nature. As Nietzsche puts it:

I love the brave: but it is not enough to be a swordsman, one must

also know against whom to be a swordsman! And there is often more

bravery in containing oneself and passing by: in order to spare oneself

for a worthier enemy! (Z III, 12, 21, p.226)

“To give one’s life for a cause” – a great effect. But there are many

things for which one would give one’s life … Whether it be

compassion or anger or revenge – that one stakes one’s life on it does

not make any value difference. How many have sacrificed their lives

for pretty girls – and, worse, their health (WP 929, p.490)

25

For Aristotle, as is well known, “courage” is one of the excellences of character. Explaining its nature, he says: “The man who faces and fears (or similarly feels confident about) the right things for the right reason and in the right way and at the right time is courageous … it is for a right and noble motive that the

It seems to be suggested that a courageous man, as Nietzsche sees him, not only correctly

anticipates the consequences of his actions but shares Nietzsche’s evaluative perspective,

not the conventional one. That is to say, the man is able to judge the value of what he

desires or wills in accordance with the former standard. Or similarly, given that definition

and his own standard of value, Nietzsche would not count those who thoroughly and

boldly commit themselves to the values of conventional morality, e.g. ‘ascetic ideal’ and

‘selflessness’, as ‘courageous’. Instead, for Nietzsche, those who choose such demanding

things as knowledge and creative works could exemplify courage.