How does one define a hero? Is it acting for the good of others as Joseph Campbell explains in one of his interviews, or is it more based on survival of one's self before the survival of another, as Ayn Rand explains in her book "Fountainhead"?

How do you describe a hero? What makes them a hero? Who do you agree with more- Campbell or Rand (altruism or self-sufficiency)?

I don't think firefighters and police are heros. *hears 200 million guns cock*

 

They signed up to put themselves in danger. To me, a hero is the dumbass that runs into a burning building to save an old lady when the fire department hasn't gotten there yet.

I wouldn't characterize Rand's position as "survival of one's self before the survival of another." It's more like "it is most rational to pursue that which makes you happy," which could entail putting your own survival above that of others, but not necessarily so. Here's what she had to say on the ethics of emergencies in The Virtue of Selfishness:

 

Concern for the welfare of those one loves is a rational part of one's selfish interests. If a man who is passionately in love with his wife spends a fortune to cure her of a dangerous illness, it would be absurd to claim that he does it as a "sacrifice" for her sake, not his own, and that it makes no difference to him, personally and selfishly, whether she lives or dies.

 

Any action that a man undertakes for the benefit of those he loves is not a sacrifice if, in the hierarchy of his values, in the total context of the choices open to him, it achieves that which is of greatest personal (and rational) importance to him. In the above example, his wife's survival is of greater value to the husband than anything else that his money could buy, it is of greatest importance to his own happiness and, therefore, his action is not a sacrifice.

If you'd be unhappy with someone's demise, then it is perfectly in keeping with her philosophy to attempt to save that someone at a great expense (even perhaps, at the risk of your own survival). It's just that Rand takes issue with calling it a sacrifice, since, as she argues, you are receiving a net beneficial gain of sorts.

I don't think firefighters and police are heros. *hears 200 million guns cock*

 

They signed up to put themselves in danger. To me' date=' a hero is the dumbass that runs into a burning building to save an old lady when the fire department hasn't gotten there yet.[/quote']

 

I absolutely agree. They knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. If they had not done what they did they would be considered cowards where is if it was any other person they would let it go.

I've always thought of a hero as just a person that one greatly admires, like an idol. Someone who has done something remarkable. Like building a breeder reactor in a garden shed.