I was reminded of this passage today:
BORRADORI: One last question: What are your ideas on heroism?
HABERMAS: The courage, discipline, and selflessness demonstrated by the New York firemen who on September 11 spontaneously put their lives on the line to save others is admirable. But why do they need to be called “heroes”? Perhaps this word has different connotations in American English than it does in German. It seems to me that whenever “heroes” are honored the question arises as to who needs them and why. Even in this looser sense of the term one can understand Bertolt Brecht’s warning: “Pity the land that needs heroes.” (43)
From Philosophy in a Time of Terror
