Cowardice
Cowardice is a trait wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger.[1][2] It is the opposite of courage. As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge. One who succumbs to cowardice is known as a coward.[3]
As the opposite of bravery, which many historical and current human societies reward, cowardice is seen as a character flaw that is detrimental to society and thus the failure to face one's fear is often stigmatized or punished.
Etymology
According to the
The English surname Coward (as in Noël Coward), however, has the same origin and meaning as the word "cowherd".
In German, the word translates into "Feigling" and "Weichei", the latter of which translates back to "soft egg" in literal.
Military law
Acts of cowardice have long been punishable by military law, which defines a wide range of cowardly offenses, including desertion in face of the enemy and surrendering to the enemy against orders. The punishment for such acts is typically severe, ranging from corporal punishment to the death sentence.
The
Generally, cowardice was punishable by
Considerable controversy was generated by military historian
See also
References
- ^ "Cowardly definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ "Coward". Merriam Webster. 19 March 2024.
- Dictionary.reference.com. reference.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Archivedfrom the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
[the] lack of courage to face danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.
- UMASS Lowell. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ "10 U.S. Code § 899 - Art. 99. Misbehavior before the enemy". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ "Call to rethink cases of French WWI 'coward' soldiers". BBC News. BBC. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ISBN 9781438118963.
- ^ Engen, Robert. "Killing for Their Country: A New Look At "Killology"". Canadian Military Journal. 9 (2). Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
As a military historian, I am instinctively skeptical of any work or theory that claims to overturn all existing scholarship – indeed, overturn an entire academic discipline – in one fell swoop...[however] Lieutenant Colonel Grossman's appeals to biology and psychology are flawed, and that the bulwark of his historical evidence – S.L.A. Marshall's assertion that soldiers do not fire their weapons – can be verifiably disproven.
- ^ Spiller, Roger J. (Winter 1988). "S.L.A. Marshall and the Ratio of Fire". RUSI Journal. pp. 63–71. Archived from the original on 10 December 2005 – via War Chronicle.
- ^ Smoler, Fredric (March 1989). "The Secret Of The Soldiers Who Didn't Shoot". American Heritage. Vol. 40, no. 2. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- hdl:1974/1081. Retrieved 24 February 2019.