What must I know to be brave?: revisiting the role of knowledge in the exercise of courage in sport

Abstract

The Platonic definition of courage as the ‘knowledge of the fearful and the hopeful’ is often eschewed by philosophers of sport. In fact, the passionate nature of sport itself seems to testify against such a definition. Hence, accounts of courage within sport tend to emphasize the affective dimension of courage at the expense of the cognitive dimension. This essay argues in defense of the Platonic vision of courage as a species of knowledge as opposed to contemporary attempts to recover the affective dimension of courage, as exemplified by John Corlett. I shall argue that far from producing an overly intellectualized vision of courage, treating courage as a species of knowledge, even within sport, throws valuable light on the exercise of courage in sport and on the shape of sport itself with regards to the exercise of virtue.

Keywords:

• Courage
• knowledge
• virtue
• Laches
• practices

Notes

1. I am deeply indebted to Dr Lenn Goodman of Vanderbilt University for this metaphor and to the members of the Spring 2015 Plato Seminar for their comments on my application of that metaphor in the context of sport.