Will, Courage, Reason

In the note to III, lix, Spinoza defines 'courage' as the "desire whereby every man strives to preserve his own being in accordance with the dictates of reason". So, since he also defines individual actual essence as the 'endeavor to persist in one's being', it follows that Courage is the rational expression of individual essence, and, therefore, that Cowardice is its irrational expression. The pre-eminence in his doctrine of Courage, and its relation to Reason, are clarified in the preface to the Theologico-Political Treatise, in which he singles out Fear as the most influential inadequate idea, the most effective vehicle of which is Superstition. In other words, on his diagnosis, Reason, by combating Superstition, overcomes Fear, thereby expressing Courage. On the other hand, it would seem to follow that Cowardice, while undeniably an effort to persist in one's being, is the weaker of the two responses to Fear. Here, that relative weakness can be quantified by comparing the amount of Volition entailed in Courage, i. e. in which Will is amplified, to that entailed in Cowardice, in which Will is restricted. Hence, Spinoza's attempts to recognize Courage and Cowardice, and, in general, rational behavior and irrational behavior, as equivalent expressions of the endeavor to persist in one's being, seems ungrounded within his system.