Courage Under Fire
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First Sentence
I came to the philosophic life as a thirty-eight-year-old naval pilot in grad school at Stanford University. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I came to the philosophic life as a thirty-eight-year-old naval pilot in grad school at Stanford University. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Admiral James Stockdale is a distinguished military man. This 21 page essay entitled "Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behaviour" arouses curiousity. Captured in the Vietnamn war, and in a P.O.W. camp for four years, his reflections are about stoicism in the face of torture and extreme oppression. There is a long association with stoicism and military men (Marus Aurelius) and so we should not suprised to see applied stoicism being directed towards resisting torture, resisting coercion and trying to maintain dignity in such circumstances. However, he is an American, he is a military man. In the short essay, he describes people who did cooperate under torture as sleaze balls and finks which is strongly alienating for this reader, and perhaps underlines my view that this essay is likely to be valued more by the military elite and not the general stoic reader. Curious nevertheless.
Format:Paperback
This is a gem - it sets out, very simply and honestly, what happens when one's deeply held philosophical beliefs come into conflict with terrible suffering. It's not an easy read - many readers will shy away from Stockdale's honesty about human nature and how people behave under pressure. But it's well worth it, and is a compelling companion to Epictetus' writings.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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8 reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Putting stoic theory to the test
17 Jan 2005
Format:Paperback
I understand that the reviews are all over the place, you need to know what you are getting. If you are looking for an essay of surviving in the world of Epictetus this is IT, as I was looking for more reading by Stockdale, I was really moved by the "Thoughts of a philosophical fighter pilot" (in which you will find this essay as a chapter). If the essay is all you need to study, go for it, for a little more money go for the "Thoughts..."
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Excellent
29 July 2006
Format:Paperback
This essay is a short, clear introduction to the philosophy of stoicism. It is proof that the ideals of the philosophy can be of real use outside the classroom. It is also an awe inspiring example leadership, patriotism, loyalty, and honour.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
This is not a story...
7 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback
as the previous reviewer states, but rather an essay. I mention that just to let you the would be buyer know, that you are getting a 21 page essay in a pamphlet format. It would have made a great book, and a great story. That is what I thougt I was buying. As for the essay itself; having read the sample pages, I was hoping for insights into how he used the philosphies of Epictetus to handle the events of his imprisonment. He does this only in a general sense.
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