ISSN: 2641-9130
Authors: Maso S*
Although not all scholars are willing to recognize it, "risk" is a real philosophical category. However, it is necessary to distinguish risk from danger. The danger is something defined and arranged by reason. So we can face it and we can defend ourselves from it. The risk is in the background: it remains beyond rational awareness. The analysis of the etymology of risk leads us to the Arab-Byzantine era. The Greek language instead possessed the word kindynos, in which the thing or the action you want to experiment is probably hidden. For this reason, risk and courage are frequently combined. Probably, we can catch the essence of Western civilization in the game between risk and reason. The foundation of this is in Greek culture: from Homer to Plato and Aristotle. Greek tragedy is the place where "risk" appears conjugated to destiny.
Keywords: Risk; Danger; Courage; Phronesis; Kindness; Destiny; Plato; Aristotle; Greek tragedy
