ABSTRACT
Heroism is often associated with grand physical feats that involve rescuing another in serious trouble: saving a potential drowning victim struggling in deep water or jumping onto subway tracks to pull a person to safety. The decision to intervene appears to be quick and immediate, and the assumption of risk is apparent. Drowning victims flail and tax the strength of the strongest of swimmers, and the possibility of an oncoming train is ever-present for the rescuer who jumps onto train tracks. These rescuers are clearly heroes. The morality of their acts seems obvious, and they take great risks to help an unknown other. When three young Americans and a British businessman thwarted the attack of a gunman on
a French passenger train, they pointed out afterwards that their actions were “just gut instinct … It wasn’t really a conscious decision” (Yoeli & Rand, 2015, p. SR10). Having reviewed transcripts of interviews with past winners of the Carnegie Medal for heroism, awarded to those who take extraordinary risks to save or attempt to save the lives of others, Yoeli and Rand emphasize that heroes almost uniformly describe their behavior as intuitive and fast rather than carefully reasoned; this was the case even when the heroes actually had some time to stop and think. The researchers concluded, “It is striking that our brute instincts, rather than our celebrated higher cognitive faculties, are what lead to such moral acts” (Yoeli & Rand, 2015, p. SR10). Apparently the trick to acting heroically is not to think too much, in which case self-preservation might override the impulse to help. Our interest is in those who do have plenty of time to think about their behavior-who
deliberate, override the drive for self-preservation, and decide to engage in moral acts in the face of known risks. Their heroism involves less immediate, more principle-based behavior reflected in prolonged acts of moral courage and resistance. These are people who have strong moral convictions, and their behavior is based on these convictions; that is, they have the courage of their moral convictions. In the first part of this chapter we will explore moral convictions as a basis for heroic action. Our focus will then be the links between morality and heroism; we will propose that heroic behavior may not begin with moral convictions, but rather these convictions may develop gradually and reinforce increasingly risky, moral behavior. Based on recent work on morality and moral convictions, we will then turn to a consideration of the dark side of heroic behavior and will conclude with some caveats regarding the truest forms of heroism.
