Why Is Courage A Virtue?

A virtue may be defined as the moral excellence of an individual. A virtue is therefore a good human attribute like for example perseverance. On the contrary, a bad attribute is called a vice.  In classical Western philosophy, a virtue is something to aspire to, something noble.

Courage is a virtue simply because it is an admirable quality, that is not only seldom found but is also responsible for some of the most daring prolific exploits and altruistic deeds known to man. It is for this specific reason that courage is included in the four cardinal virtues of Western philosophy the other three being temperance, prudence and justice. In addition courage is also one of the classical Roman virtues, in this context, it was considered to be the embodiment of masculinity in its totality, and was called virtus in Latin.