Brian JohnsonChairman & Philosopher in Residence at Heroic

The Heart of Virtue

20 Jun 2011 · 2 min

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A short spoken mini-chapter by Brian Johnson titled "The Heart of Virtue" (part of A Philosopher's Notes). Johnson argues that 'courage'—etymologically linked to the heart—is the central virtue that vitalizes all other virtues; without it, other virtues become mere facsimiles (citing psychologist Rollo May). The clip functions as an introduction to a 'courage' section and promises a follow-up on practical ways to cultivate courage.

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Brian Johnson

June 20, 2011

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Hi, this is Brian with another mini chapter from A Philosopher's Notes. This one's called the Heart of Virtue. Did you know the word courage comes from the French and Latin words for heart? Yep. And just as the heart is the organ that pumps blood to our arms and legs and other organs, courage is the virtue that vitalizes all the other virtues. Fact is, without courage, all the other virtues wither away into, as psychologist Rollo May tells us, mere facsimiles of virtue. And all this fancy pants stuff we're talking about dissolves into meaningless intellectual abstraction and the resulting spiritual farts. So we've got to get our courage on. Let's look at some ways to do that, shall we? That is the first chapter in the courage section. Next, we'll take a look at some of the ways we can get our courage on. Hope you enjoyed. Remember, courage is the heart of virtue. Courage is the virtue that vitalizes all the other virtues. Hope you enjoyed. Have an awesome day. Look forward to sharing more soon.