Aug 29, 2017 · 1 min read
Not exactly. Courage accepts risk that has a payoff higher in the priority hierarchy. Prudence avoids risk lacking such a payoff.
To take the extreme example, a round of Russian roulette (with a sufficiently high payoff) might risk ruin to set up one’s descendants for survival; playing could then be an act of courage. I heard this motive given for certain Enron execs who committed suicide, thereby escaping retribution and preserving their assets for their heirs. Plausible? Rational? Courageous? Perhaps even prudent?