%0 Journal Article
%T Achilles and the Astronaut: What Heroism Humanities Can Teach Heroism Science
%A Ruth Martin Curry
%J Journal of Humanistic Psychology
%@ 1552-650X
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0022167817697797
%X In its ambition to become a ¡°transdisciplinary¡± field of study, heroism science should leverage the expertise of the ¡°heroism humanities.¡± This article uses humanistic knowledge to address one of the thorniest issues in the field: Who counts as a hero? After summarizing the ¡°subjective¡± versus ¡°objective¡± approach to defining heroism, I suggest the problem exists because we conflate two distinct conceptual categories: ¡°Heroes,¡± or the ascription of heroic status to persons and ¡°heroism,¡± or the ascription of heroic status to behavior. ¡°Hero,¡± with deep roots in classical antiquity, generates a far more diverse web of associations than ¡°heroism,¡± a modern construction. Using four examples from a recent news cycle of persons deemed ¡°heroes¡± (a dictator, an astronaut, a victim of abuse, and an athlete), I demonstrate that a deeper appreciation of the Greek heroic tradition reveals that contemporary ascription of ¡°hero¡± status is often a continuation, rather than a ¡°diminution¡± of the word¡¯s historic meanings. Finally, I suggest that heroism science shift its focus from the study of heroic actors as natural objects to the study of how heroes function, discursively and symbolically, within their communities
%K heroism science
%K ancient Greek heroes
%K heroism humanities
%K transdisciplinary
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022167817697797