Rousseau’s seemingly optimistic theory that man is good in nature (the “noble savage”) but is corrupted by private property and by traditional social, political, and ecclesiastical institutions proved disastrous, leading to the irrational and deadly utopianism of the French Revolution.

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines virtue as the mean between the extremes. While few people confuse courage with its lack (cowardice), there are many who might confuse it with its excess (bravado or cockiness).