Final answer:
Bravery and courage, while related, differ primarily in the presence and acknowledgment of fear. Bravery often involves a fearless approach, especially in the face of physical danger, whereas courage encapsulates the strength to face fear, pain, and uncertainty, often in moral or ethical arenas.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concepts of bravery and courage often appear to be similar, but there is a nuanced difference between the two. Bravery tends to refer to a kind of fearless behavior, often seen in the context of facing physical challenges or dangers, and is sometimes linked to a lack of fear. The narrative discussed portrays bravery as having been rendered irrelevant by the mechanized and impersonal nature of modern warfare, where a soldier's fate could be decided by luck rather than personal valor.
Courage, on the other hand, is more related to the internal strength required to consciously face fear, pain, and uncertainty. Profiles in Courage illustrates this concept through stories of senators who made difficult choices despite potential personal and political losses. This aligns with Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, which describes courage as the mean between excessive fear and overconfidence.
Gender and identity also play a role in how acts of bravery or courage are perceived in society. Acts such as saving someone from a burning building are clear examples of bravery, but when courage is discussed in relation to societal roles or political actions, it may not involve physical danger but instead a moral or ethical challenge.