Kevin Simler

Let me try this again: Are there principles that let you condemn suicide bombing, but not falling on a grenade and/or volunteering for war?

@KevinSimler Isn't that asking for proof of a negative? "You can't condemn X from axiom Y" is just challenging them to be more creative.

@TristanSevers Yeah, but in many ways that's the game :).

@KevinSimler Closest well-formed question would probably be "do we have a consistent definition of Valor?"

@KevinSimler Which, no. All virtues are hazy and valor is one of the worst in that respect. Valor is defined by narrative aesthetic.

@TristanSevers I'd never have thought to put it that way, but I have the same feelings about valor as a virtue: hazy, narrative, aesthetic

@KevinSimler Thinking about it in these terms, I feel dumb for ever not seeing connection between valor, death poems https://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/norse/HTML/Percy.html …