Study On Plato's Thought Of Courag

Wisdom,courage,temperance and justice are Plato’s four main virtues,among which "courage" is one of the most important virtues in Ancient Greece.As one of the greatest philosophers in ancient Greece,Plato’s brave virtue not only had an important influence on the ancient Greek moral concept at that time,but also had an important academic significance and reference value for the scholars of later generations to study brave virtue.The study of Plato’s brave virtue also has some enlightenment for contemporary people to shape brave character.In ancient Greece,there were frequent wars among the city-states,and Plato believed that the traditional political bravery at this time was more a kind of brave spirit and war virtue.People admired the glory brought by bravery on the battlefield,and its core value was mainly based on shame and honor.In particular,the recognition of heroic bravery spirit in the Greek society in the Homeric period equated bravery with hero.When it came to Plato’s time,the heroic brave spirit of Homer’s time began to lose its voice.Plato believed that an ideal just city-state was wise,brave and temperate,and he began to combine the brave spirit with the system of reflection.He incorporated the psychological factor of "passion" in the spirit and controlled it by reason.At this time,courage is no longer blindly reckless and rude,but a "higher passion" established by reason,which is different from the brave spirit in Homer’s time,where courage is a virtue formed by the "passion" part of the soul after education.It is a complete retention of the right belief,a denial of the fervent passion of the soul under the premise of rational analysis and prudent judgment,so as to achieve a state of being fearless in the face of things that should be feared.At the same time,Plato found that "passion" constituted a natural basis for human idealism different from that of beasts,capable of sacrifice for the good of the polis as a whole,pointing to a transcendent abstract self.That is to say,when a brave man full of "passion" dedicates himself to a more noble value goal,he also abstracts a higher self because of this noble value goal.After revising the traditional political courage into a state of "maintaining",Plato then points to a higher state,namely the philosopher’s courage.At this time,the brave virtue has gone beyond the common view,and turned to the idea of good itself,more concerned with the perfection of the human soul.The brave "idea of the good",despite its metaphysical implications,seems to lead us to the belief that through self-governance we are already in touch with an absolute state that helps us to know truth and regulate behavior.Plato believed that courage,as a kind of moral virtue,requires us to keep a positive spiritual temperament in our nature at all times and cultivate it through good moral education.To this day,the study of Plato’s brave virtues has not stopped.With human reason as its main connotation,brave virtue is an important virtue,but it is not the primary virtue in Plato’s ethical thought system.Bravery is restricted by the highest moral principle.At the same time,we should treat the brave virtue dialectically.On the one hand,Plato believed that the brave virtue was called the virtue through rational thinking;on the other hand,his brave virtue was inevitably influenced by the aristocracy,with strict hierarchical concept and fatalism,so it had certain metaphysical utopianism.However,its brave virtue still has an unshakable position today.It can give people spiritual strength when facing difficulties.The contemporary value of its brave virtue is mainly embodied in: first,it can enlighten the subject consciousness of the brave and remind people to keep the correct moral belief;Secondly,we should promote the character of brave and righteous,who can take actions for noble goals without fear of danger,and guide people to save the danger in the right way through rational and prudent thinking.Third,to clarify the contemporary brave "moral belief" by law,Plato attaches importance to law,and the compulsory role of law is internalized into the self-discipline role of brave moral belief on people,who can make good use of law is really brave people.Fourth,we must have the courage to carry forward the spirit of contemporary struggle.In the face of injustice,individuals and society need this aggressive and ambitious ethos to face the price that may be paid;Fifthly,it suggests that we should vigorously carry forward the Chinese national spirit of "diligence and bravery" and be a brave Chinese.