Faint-heartedness
Faintheartedness (also faint-heartedness ) ( ancient Greek ὀλιγοψυχία oligopsychia , Latin pusillanimitas ) is the name for a lack of courage and lack of determination in a difficult situation demanding people. It is a state of mind, synonymous with "despondency" and thus stands as a negatively connotated personality trait in contrast to the desirable character trait "courage", "courage". Faintheartedness is registered as a mark of individual people, but also of entire societies.
Word history
The concept and concept of “petty mood” and “faint-hearted” can already be found in ancient Greece as ὀλιγοψυχία ( oligopsychia ) or μικροψυχία ( micropsychia ), in Roman antiquity as pusillanimitas , Old High German as luzilmuotîg and Middle High German as luzilmuotîg . In terms of word formation, faint-heartedness in the sense of insufficient soul size represents a counterpart to so-called generosity , the "μεγαλοψυχία" (megalopsychia) or "magnanimitas", which was praised as a virtue in Greek and Roman antiquity and is characterized by "generosity" or " Generosity ”translates.
Historical usage
In his doctrine of mesotes, Aristotle contrasts faint-heartedness as an inferior extreme trait with the other extreme, pompousness. He also uses the terms μικρόψυχος for the faint-hearted and μικροψυχία for the characteristic of faint-heartedness, which is identical with the German word "faint-hearted".
In his 1st letter to the Thessalonians , the apostle Paul of Tarsus uses the word in the attached note: "Manage the naughty, comfort the faint-hearted (= τοὺς ὀλιγοψύχους), bear the weak" (1 Thess. 5:14 ).
The early New High German poet Johann Fischart formulated in his work "Flöh-Haz, Weiber-Tratz" from 1573: "... and wants to take a bold heart to me, humble all clumsiness through steadfastness" .
The socially critical poet Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart , imprisoned in the mountain fortress of Asperg in 1777 , encourages himself with the phrase "... drum, my spirit, let no need to make you feel meek" .
The word is also used in this way in Lessing ( “his repentance could seem disgraceful indifference” ), Schiller ( “your own indifference overthrows you from the throne” ) and Goethe ( “was it possible that in their presence peasiness seized you and conquered you ? " ) Verifiable.
The poet Christoph Martin Wieland uses the word in his verse epic “Idris” in the spelling: “... she doesn't even think of to doubt; she knows the heart too well to be so little courage ” . (Wieland: Idris and Zenide , Leipzig 1768, 5, 52)
In a letter of October 16, 1795, Schiller wrote to Goethe: "... for an hour of courage and trust there are always ten where I am petty" .
The ancient historian and specialist in the history of Carthaginian and Roman Hispania , Pedro Barceló , contrasts the mentality of the Romans after the lost battle of Cannae (216 BC) with that of the Carthaginians, whom he describes as “fainthearted”: “Rome's resilience was by no means broken after Cannae. The addressee of this message should be shown the Roman generosity as well as the solidarity of the Romans in an emergency and, in contrast, the Carthaginian faintheartedness. "
Consequences of faint-heartedness
The consequences of faint-heartedness have been analyzed many times in science and practice by different specialist competencies in different areas of life and reflected on with regard to possible therapeutic measures. They are of considerable importance on an individual as well as on a social level and aim largely in the same direction of a demand for more willingness to take risks , self-discipline , self-activity, personal performance and personal responsibility . Known consequences of cowardice are in the individual area about the often lamented lack of moral courage , exam nerves and test refusals, lack of confidence in performance requirements, fear of life and helplessness in life problems. In the social sphere, faint-heartedness becomes evident in the problem of the refusal to reform by some states and their citizens. However, it is also linked to the spread of the insurance industry with the delusion that it should protect itself against any life risk, the tendency towards the most complete state welfare possible and the widespread risk aversion and risk aversion of broad sections of the population as unmistakable signs:
The ancient historian and historian Pedro Barceló sees faint-heartedness as a major reason why the Carthaginians, despite their grandiose military victory at Cannae, were not able to use the advantage they had gained, while the mentally stronger Romans managed the bitter defeat to ultimately turn into a victory and the final annihilation of Carthage.
From his many years of school experience in dealing with adolescents, the pedagogue and contentious school principal Bernhard Bueb registers an increasing effeminacy and a lack of stamina in demanding tasks associated with setbacks and, as a result of the low tolerance for frustration, a quick giving up if high ambitions fail temporarily . He sees the way out of faint-heartedness in a social rethinking and a contemporary reawakening of basic virtues such as diligence, willingness to perform, self-conquest and discipline, with which a less externally determined, more independent life can be built through personal performance and personal responsibility.
The psychologist and risk researcher Siegbert A. Warwitz sees the problem of faint-heartedness growing out of overprotection and refusal to accept one's own responsibility, which slows down the maturation of personality and usually begins in the home. As examples, he cites the tendency towards the so-called “ parents' taxi ”, which prevents children from learning how to manage risk in dealing with traffic, or the development of a “fully comprehensive mentality” in the minds of people who want to insure themselves against any life risk, even on adventure trips . He points out that the control of dangers is not innate, but must be learned in every area by actively dealing with risks and reflecting on them, and that faint-heartedness represents a personality deficit. As a guide to a self-determined way of life and character development, he recommends systematic risk education , which should start at an early age in the parents' home and be consistently continued in kindergarten and school and should lead to appropriate self- education . This requires the courage of educators and politicians not only to allow appropriate freedom for meaningful tests of courage , but to actively promote it.
The sociologist and behavioral researcher Felix von Cube names a widespread social orientation, to make it as easy as possible for the offspring to relieve them of difficulties, to spare disappointments, for example in the legal area (up to the age of 14) to take them largely out of responsibility for their own actions and thus to keep them under age for a long time and to guide them to avoid risk as an initial problem. Against the dilemma of faint-hearted refusal to deal with demanding, even dangerous tasks, he uses the motto "Challenge instead of pampering" and means more courage on the part of the educators to let go and more courage of the adolescents to act independently and take responsibility in order to be able to mature into personality.
literature
- Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm: German Dictionary . 16 volumes in 32 sub-volumes. Leipzig 1854–1961: keywords "faint-hearted", "faint-hearted", "faint-hearted", "faint-hearted".
- Gerhard Truig: German dictionary , Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh 1970, key words “faint-heartedness”, “faint-heartedness”, column 2049
- Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . 2nd, extended edition, Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .
- Siegbert A. Warwitz: From the sense of the car. Why people face dangerous challenges. In: DAV (Ed.) Berg 2006. Munich-Innsbruck-Bozen 2005, pp. 96–111, ISBN 3-937530-10X .
Individual evidence
- ^ Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm: German Dictionary . 16 volumes in 32 sub-volumes. Leipzig 1854–1961: Keywords "faint-hearted", "faint-hearted", "faint-hearted", "faint-hearted"
- ↑ Gerhard Wahrig: German Dictionary , Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh 1970, keywords “faint-heartedness”, “faint-heartedness”, column 2049
- ↑ Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics IV, 7-8
- ↑ Nicomachean Ethics . Original Greek text at Wikisource, 4 / 1125a
- ^ Schubart's life and convictions / By himself, set up in the dungeon, 2 parts, Mäntler, Stuttgart 1791–1793
- ↑ quoted by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm: German Dictionary . 16 volumes in 32 sub-volumes. Leipzig 1854–1961, Vol. 11, Column 1120
- ^ Pedro Barceló: Short Roman History . Special edition, 2nd, bibliographically updated edition. Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2012, p. 37f
- ^ Pedro Barceló: Short Roman History . Special edition, 2nd, bibliographically updated edition. Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2012, p. 37f
- ↑ Bernhard Bueb: Praise of the discipline. A polemic . List, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-471-79542-1 ; Ullstein Taschenbuch, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-548-36930-3
- ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Whoever wants to develop must dare , In: Ders .: Sinnsuche im Wagnis. Life in growing rings . 2nd, extended edition, Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 , pp. 26–32
- ↑ Felix von Cube: Demanding instead of pampering - the findings of behavioral biology in education . Piper, Munich 1986
Web links
- Why it is so difficult to be brave - Interview with Steffen Hallaschka sternTV broadcast RTL: Psycho-Experiments July 27, 2016 (accessed on December 22, 2016)