Heroes Wanted

Earlier this week, I gave a lecture to a small group of students on the subject of my new book project. In the book, which I’m sure I’ll write more about in the coming months, I argue that political thought can shed some light on why some people act on behalf of others. To make that case, I go back to what I argue are three archetypes of heroic behavior (Achilles, Odysseus, and Socrates) alongside three contemporary heroes whose motivations line up with the classical examples.

I mentioned all of this to the students and then I presented them with the hypothetical case of a drowning child to see what they thought. I told them that they should imagine themselves walking alone and asked them what they would do if they saw children drowning in a pond. Interestingly, everyone in the room felt that they were under no obligation to jump into the pond in an attempt to rescue the children. Instead, they attempted to find other solutions for the problem:

1. They could run to get help from someone nearby;
2. They could quickly call the police on their cellphones;
3. They could try to reach the children with a tree branch.

When they were asked how they would feel if they tried one of these things and the children drowned, they admitted that they would feel badly. But they maintained that they would not be required to do anything more to help the children. And, of course, they’re right: if we were all required to jump into the pond, we’d no longer think that there was something particularly heroic in doing so.

Of course, I then told them that this wasn’t simply a hypothetical case. Indeed, Joe Delaney, a Pro Bowl running back with the Kansas City Chiefs, had attempted to rescue three drowning boys in a Monroe, Louisiana park in 1983. Though he had never learned to swim, Delaney succeeded in saving one of the boys before drowning in his attempt to save the other two.

The amazing thing - and the reason I’m blogging about this little lecture - is that the students didn’t seem at all impressed with Delaney or with the Presidential Citizens Medal that he was posthumously awarded by Ronald Reagan. They couldn’t figure out why in the world he would have done what he did and, quite clearly, they weren’t inspired by him to do the same if the situation somehow arose. It made no sense that someone who couldn’t swim would risk his life by jumping into the pond, especially since he would have had no reason to believe that he’d succeed in rescuing anyone.

Does it make any sense to anyone, really? Do stories like this one, about Joe Delaney and the drowning boys, make you wish that you could be the kind of person who would act this way? In short, is Delaney a hero and do you hope that you’d end up being one too?