Heroic Academic Research

Believe it or not, we came across some outside-the-box academic research that does not look that bad. “Temple University psychologist Frank Farley, following an intensive study of modern heroism, divided heroes into three types,” Roger Donway reports in the September issue of The New Individualist. “First are the soldiers, policemen, firemen, rescue workers—what Farley calls 911 heroes (referring to the emergency telephone number, not September 11).”

“They are, in a sense, professional heroes.” Acknowledging the heroic aspect of military service sets Farley apart from most of his peers. He must have tenure.

“They are, in a sense, professional heroes,” Donway explains of Farley’s thesis. “Like Greek warriors and knights of the Round Table, they struggle against foreign enemies, criminals, and natural disaster, facing grave risks to preserve the foundations of civilization.”

“But they undertake this risky work as part of their daily job.” The New Individualist is published by the Atlas Society.

“The second type of contemporary hero is the sustainer, and he might be considered the equivalent of those earlier heroes who promulgated a new society, such as King Arthur,” Donway explains of Farley’s theory. “Today, this type of hero could be the breadwinner for an extended family or the indispensable man of a corporation.”

“These roles reach the level of heroism, however, only when the struggle involved becomes intense and the efficacy required titanic—in short, when nothing less than an Atlas will do.”

“The third sort of hero Farley calls ‘the situational hero.’ This is a person who is not a hero by either profession or position. On the contrary, he lives an ordinary life and seeks no great adventures. Circumstances alone contrive to make a hero of him. His efficacy is elevated to the heroic level purely by context: He is the man of the hour because he and only he can do what must be done.”

If only Farley could interest the History Department in his study of the heroic, at Temple or anywhere else. The Founding Fathers might actually reappear in college courses.

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.