The Banality of Heroism

[HoreTore]

Hannah Aarendt argues that people who do evil do so not because they are special in any way, but simply because they are ordinary humans put in a certain position. Millgram and Zimbardo conducted experiments where they argued for outside causes(authority and obedience) as the cause of evil, not character flaws.

While in the shower this morning, I was thinking about heroism. Does it work the same? Do people act heroically not because they are great persons, but simply because of outside forces and the specific situation they are in?

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

No - I don't think it does, people do evil because it's safer than sticking out and getting shot.

Heroism is tanding up to get shot, it's hard.

[The Stranger]

dont know, many people regarded as heroes have said what horetore is asking now, they do not regard themselves as heroes but as people who were put in a special situation and did what they thought was the best thing. it might false modesty, it might not be.

i guess its too black and white anyway, there many different types of heroism and than there is the question of how much is in the eye of the beholder. Are there any heroes that people have never heard and thought of as heroes? And are there any who do not deserve that title and respect. my guess would be yes, which means that there should be some objective criterion for heroism which is quite hard i think because how can it possible include all these different types of "heroism".

[Fragony]

Millgram showed humanity is capable of anything when they are not responsible themselve, I expect it to be the same for heroism. It's an interesting question.

[rory_20_uk]

IMO being a hero is not undertaking an action, but undertaking that action with foreknowledge of the risks.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Zimbardo is a hack and his experiment doesn't show anything like what people think it does. He took some college age kids in the 70's and put them into a role playing game and then gave detailed instructions to the jailors about how to act like the fascists they all knew prison guards were.

Those who do the greatest evil are often sociopaths or ideological fanatics. Saints are often quasi-religious zealots as well. It's not situational.

It's not at all clear what "ordinary person" is supposed to mean, and "Evil" has unclear implications as well.

People in very stressful situations often can't keep it together. Those who are able to keep calm often do things we think heroic. Etc.

[The Stranger]

IMO being a hero is not undertaking an action, but undertaking that action with foreknowledge of the risks.

so robbing a bank is heroic?

[ICantSpellDawg]

I think that some acts of evil and heroism are probably situation-ally driven, but that would probably explain more of "bad" and "good" than what we consider "evil" or "heroic". Those situations usually conote extremes in behavior and, from what i've seen, come from tempering yourself and your attitudes over time. For example, I doubt that someone would go from being an honest and actually caring person to being a sadistic child torturing rapist and murderer based on a situation. Equally, I doubt that a person who regularly skirts responsibilities and burns other people when it is convenient for them would put their life on the line to save someone else.

As with most things, extremes take practice.