Four Types of Courage by Karen Castellucci Cox

A Summary of “Four Types of Courage”

In “Four Types of Courage,” Karen Castellucci Cox describes the four types of courage that were introduced by Rollo May, an American psychologist, which are physical, social, moral, and creative courage. The first type is physical courage; it is the ability to withstand pain and dangerous situation for a greater cause. For example during hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans police were not trained for natural disaster, but they did their best to protect the people. In modern day, physical courage might have been misinterpreted for frontier justice; physical courage serves to protect people and not to harm or overpower them. The next type is social courage; it is the courage to be honest and establish good relationship with people. When one adopts social courage, they would be able to connect with others without feeling afraid of rejection. The third type is moral courage; it is the ability to observe the hardship of others and be willing to help regardless of the consequences. The first example is Aung San Suu Kyi, who spends her life promoting democracy and human rights inspired by her father’s assassination; she had sacrificed many important things in her life to pursue moral courage. Another great example is Paul Rusesabagina who uses his hotel to hide and rescue 1,268 refuges during the mass genocide in Rwanda. Last but not least is creative courage; it is the capability to discover new and improve ideas to serve for a better future. Art is one form of creative courage; for example, the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Broadway musical Rent. However, art is not the only form of creative courage. Tim Berners Lee was credited for creating the World Wide Web but instead of keeping the creation for himself, he chooses to make it public. May definitions of courage suggest that the people should find and implant courage in their lives.