Psychological Courage

Book excerpt: While the virtues of physical courage and moral courage have a long history in ethics, the courage to face personal psychological problems has never been fully integrated into the discipline. Psychological Courage explores the ethical dimension and multiple facets of the virtue of "psychological courage," as dubbed by author Daniel Putman. In this book, Putman outlines three forms of courage: physical, moral, and psychological. He defines psychological courage as the courage to face addictions, phobias, and obsessions, and to avoid self deception and admit mistakes. This book analyzes what psychological courage is and upholds it as a central virtue for human happiness.