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Fearless?: Peter Weir, The Sage, and the Fragility of Goodness
- Philosophy and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 41, Number 1, April 2017
- pp. 136-157
- 10.1353/phl.2017.0009
- Article
- Additional Information
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Rafael Yglesias's Fearless, adapted for film by Peter Weir, stages a striking ethical reflection on the nature of the best human life. Section 1 looks at the film's portrayal of Max Klein, an ordinary man who becomes "fearless" after conquering his worst fear. Max exhibits a profile of supererogatory virtues recalling those of the classical sage, yet section 2 argues that Fearless as a whole presents a powerful criticism of such a "fearless" life. Echoing criticisms of the invulnerability of the sage in Michel de Montaigne and Martha Nussbaum, Fearless's true hero is its less ostentatious heroine: Max's wife, Laura.