audacity

Nikolay Samokish: Boldness in Battle (painting 1912)

Boldness (from Old High German kuoni , Middle High German küene = daring , courageous , daring ) is a partial aspect of the generic term courage . According to the historically developed definition of the venture researcher SA Warwitz, Kühnheit describes an "aggressively pushing forward form of courage", as it has established itself above all in warrior society and has been colloquially reflected in the daredevil type . Daring is originally a warrior and combatant virtue. In contrast to the complex generic term courage, she lacks the alternative aspect of refusing to take a reprehensible risk act, and the strength of character that comes with the courage to “say no”.

Word meaning history

The term boldness , derived from the Germanic root kan , kun = can , denoted a characteristic that was highly regarded in Germanic allegiance and constituted a real basis for the loyalty of a vassal to his prince in his armed conflicts. It guaranteed an unbreakable bond of life and death with the liege lord. Failure was irretrievably linked to the socially fatal loss of the êre. The old Germanic heroes went into battle with and for their warlords in unconditional allegiance, even if they did not consider this to be sensible in personal assessment, such as the Theodoric vassal Hildebrand or Hagen von Tronje in the Nibelungenlied.

Charles the Bold, portrait by Rubens ,
around 1618

The close relationship with künne = descent , clan shows that boldness was originally understood as innate and as an expression of noble blood and that it was an obligation to preserve tribal honor. The word root is the basis for German first names such as Konrad (bold adviser, bold in the council) and Kunigunde (bold fighter, fighter for the clan). Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy and Luxembourg from the French royal family of the Valois (1433–1477) was given - like his ancestor Philip II (1342–1404) - the admired character trait as a ruler by name.

In the introduction to his epic epic, the poet of the Nibelungenlied promises to want to report "of küener recken striten" (of the battles of bold heroes): of bold warriors strîten muget ir nû he hear say ( you can now hear wonderful stories about the fights of bold heroes) ). According to Warwitz, boldness as “initiative and driving force” is consistently associated with risk . It counteracts the "braking force" fear: the bold dares to venture into risky situations against resistance and dangers.

From the original warrior virtue, the word meaning expanded increasingly to other areas, such as research, as a general innovative property that promotes progress: Dangerous but forward-looking deeds in the form of self-experiments in the history of medicine or pioneering deeds such as that of Otto Lilienthal for the development of flight into daring exploits of mankind to which monuments were erected.

The further use of the word finally also led to metaphorical representations in figurative contexts such as “make a bold claim / thesis”, “develop a bold plan” or to characterizing descriptions such as “a boldly curved bridge”, “the bold lines (of a building)” or "A bold rock needle jutting into the sky". As a reproachful description of presumptuous audacity , the word can be found in the phrase “daring to be daring” (“daring oneself”).

In the tradition of the ancient doctrine of mesotes ( Greek μεσότης "middle") of Aristotle , which he laid down in his work Nicomachean Ethics , boldness as a virtue of moderation (the mâze) was already in the Middle Ages between the extreme forms of recklessness and cowardice , which it under the guidance of reason and prudence was to be carefully balanced.

Web links

Wikiquote: Boldness  - Quotes

Wiktionary: audacity  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

• Brockhaus Wahrig: German dictionary , large dictionary by Renate Wahrig-Burfeind, 9th completely updated edition, 2011, ISBN 978-3-577-07595-4 .
• Otfrid-Reinald Ehrismann : The Nibelungenlied. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-50872-3 .
• Klaus Schelle: Charles the Bold. The last Duke of Burgundy. Heyne, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-453-55097-8 .
• Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2nd, extended edition, Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .

See also

• Brinkmanship

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gerhard Truig: The great German dictionary . Gütersloh 1970, column 21.
2. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Resistance gives way to will . In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2., ext. Edition. Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 , pp. 40-44.
3. ^ Gerhard Truig: The great German dictionary . Gütersloh 1970, column 55.
4. ^ Otfrid-Reinald Ehrismann: The Nibelungenlied. Beck, Munich 2005.
5. ↑ p. 42
6. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Research - the advance into the unknown . In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings. Explanatory models for cross-border behavior. 2., ext. Edition. Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 , p. 52.
7. ↑ Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics . Translated by Franz Dirlmeier. Reclam, Stuttgart 2004