Praised be Jesus Christ! I have taken the main body of the first 6 articles of "Fortitude of Itself" and summarized each one in easy to understand language below. I am a simple lay man and don't have a theology degree, so keep that in mind. Hopefully my translation is correct. If you are interested in reading the articles yourself I have placed the link at the bottom of the post.
Please join me in learning about and practicing virtue for our Queen on Her glorious feast of the Immaculate Conception. For Mary!
1. Is fortitude a virtue?
Virtue makes the person and his works good. Man's good according to Dionysius (member of Greek council, was converted by St. Paul in Acts 17:34) is to be in accordance with reason.
Human virtue makes man good, it makes his work in accord with right reason by three ways:
1. By making his reason correct by itself, through the intellectual virtues.
2. By making his reason correct in human affairs through the virtue of justice.
3. By removing all obstacles to reason being correct in human affairs.
a) Obstacle 1 - object of pleasure other than what right reason requires - removed by temperance
b) Obstacle 2 - not wanting to follow correct reason because of difficulty - removed by fortitude
Thus fortitude is a virtue because it helps man follow right reason.
2. Is fortitude a special virtue?
Fortitude can be understood in 2 ways:
1. Firmness of mind - in this sense it is a general virtue (condition of every virtue).
2. Firmness only in doing things that are very difficult to be firm (grave dangers), in this sense it is regarded as a special virtue.
3. Is fortitude about fear and daring?
Fortitude removes any obstacle that doesn't allow the will to follow reason. Fortitude is about restraining fear and moderating daring.
4. Is fortitude only about danger of death?
As previously stated it belongs to fortitude to guard the will against being withdrawn from the good of reason through fear of bodily evil. Fortitude of soul binds the will firmly to the good of reason in the face of the greatest evils: because he that stands firm against great things, will stand firm against lesser things, but not conversely. It belongs to the notion of virtue that it should regard something extreme: and the most fearful of all bodily evils is death, since it takes away all bodily goods. Thus the virtue of fortitude is about the dangers of death.
5. Whether fortitude is properly about dangers of death in battle?
As stated above fortitude strengthens a man's mind against the greatest danger which is death. Fortitude is a virtue, and virtue tends toward good. When man is close to death in situations outside of battle (storms, sickness, attacks from robbers, etc.) this doesn't come from pursuing some good, on the other hand, dangers of death in battle come to man because he is defending the common good by a just fight.
There are two kinds of a just fight:
1) General combat - war
2) Private combat - when a judge or individual gives a just judgment even though he may be killed because of it
Further, A brave man behaves well in face of any other kind of death; especially since a man may be in danger of any kind of death on account of his practicing virtue. Such as visiting a sick friend who has a deadly infection, or not refusing to undertake a journey for a good reason through fear of shipwreck or robbers.
6. Is endurance is the chief act of fortitude?
Fortitude is more about calming fears rather than moderating daring. It is more difficult to calm fear, since danger itself checks daring and increases fear. To attack belongs to fortitude only in so far as daring is moderated during the attack. Thus the primary act of fortitude is endurance, that is to stand immovable in the midst of dangers rather than to attack them.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3123.htm
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