James Boswell, an author in the 1700’s, wrote in The Life of Johnson of a conversation regarding the courage of soldiers in war. In this conversation, one man asks of courage and if it’s not acquired. The response he is given suggests that separately soldiers lack courage, but together, such as in times of war, they collectively possess it.

SCOTT. “But is not courage mechanical, and to be acquired?” JOHNSON. “Why, yes, Sir, in a collective sense. Soldiers consider themselves only as parts of a great machine.” (Boswell 384)

William Shakespeare, the famous writer of poetry and English plays, wrote about the idea of courage for the sake of honor in act four, scene four of his famous play, Hamlet. In this scene, Hamlet is in a soliloquy about the Norwegian prince’s decision to engage the forces. The prince made this decision knowing that in doing so it is very possible that the Norwegians will lo

Michel de Montaigne, author of Essays, wrote a section regarding the madness that fear bring to man. He tells the tales of several soldiers who, when faced with certain fear lose all rational judgment. One such story is of a soldier in the war who is so frightened that he throws himself out at a porthole and is killed almost immediately.

Many questions come to mind in such a scenario. Is honor even worth the courage that defends it in such a situation? Can the defense of honor justify the men killed? This defense of honor serves as Shakespeare’s take on courage in war.

Plato, a philosopher who studied under Socrates, believed courage was one of four parts of virtue. All parts must be present if any one is to be present. He believed the other three parts to be temperance, wisdom, and justice. His belief is similar to Boswell’s idea that together, men collectively took part in war with courage. He uses a city and its inhabitants as an example of this. He wrote:

Whose spirit with divine ambition puff’d

To attain to eminence in letters costs a man time, watching, hunger, nakedness, headaches, indigestions, and other things of the sort, some of which I have already referred to. But for a man to come in the ordinary course of things to be a good soldier costs him all the student suffers, and an incomparably higher degree, for at every step he runs the risk of losing his life. (Cervantes 147)

Some topics in this essay:
Shakespeare II, William Shakespeare, Don Quixote, Lord God, Life Johnson, War Courage, Deuteronomy Moses, courage war, James Boswell, defense honor, war courage, courage war courage, courage soldiers, war courage war,