Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Protagoras', 'The Question of Realism' and 'The Problem of the Soul'

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2 ideas

20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / b. Intellectualism
Courage is knowing what should or shouldn't be feared [Plato]
     Full Idea: Knowledge of what is and is not to be feared is courage.
     From: Plato (Protagoras [c.380 BCE], 360d)
Intellectualism admires the 'principled actor', non-intellectualism admires the 'good character' [Flanagan]
     Full Idea: There are two main pictures of the good person: there is the 'good character', and there is the 'principled actor'. ..The first picture is non-intellectualist, and the second is intellectualist.
     From: Owen Flanagan (The Problem of the Soul [2002], p.145)
     A reaction: The second ideal elevates the principle itself above the actor who carries it out. Presumably consistency is a virtue, so a good character will at least pay some attention to principles. A good magistrate comes out the same in both views.