Generosity as a central virtue in Nietzsche's ethics

Abstract

Nietzsche's ethics is basically an ethics of virtue. In his own unique way, and
in accordance with his extra-moral view of life, Nietzsche recovers and
re-appropriates certain virtues – notably pagan, aristocratic virtues – as part
of his project to reconceptualise (‘rehabilitate') the virtues in terms of virtù
(virtuosity and vitality), to which he also refers as his ‘moraline-free' conception
of the virtues. The virtue of generosity (in the sense of magnanimity)
plays a central role in Nietzschean ethics. According to Nietzsche, the truly
noble or virtuous person is one who lives beyond resentment and feelings of
remorse and guilt. He lives his life from the fullness and plenitude of his own
being and what he is able to bestow on others. Nietzsche seeks to rekindle
and rehabilitate the aristocratic ‘pathos of distance' as the true origin of ethical
life. This pathos of distance basically emanates from self-respect: ‘The
noble soul has reverence for itself' (1974b: §287). For Nietzsche, this means
that one should realize the greatest multiplicity of drives and form-giving
forces in oneself, in the most tension-fraught but ‘controlled' manner. This
control, this imposing a form on oneself without neglecting the multiplicity
in oneself, is a creative, artistic activity. Nietzsche also refers to this as a process
of transforming the self into a work of art, of giving style to one's own
existence. Thus we free ourselves from guilt, resentment and the rage against
contingency. It is of the utmost importance for Nietzsche that one should attain
satisfaction with oneself, for ‘only then is a human being at all tolerable
to behold. Whoever is dissatisfied with himself is continually ready for revenge,
and we others will be his victims, if only by having to endure his ugly
sight.' (1974a: §290). To attain satisfaction with oneself ultimately means to
affirm life in its totality. This implies a life beyond resentment, i.e. a life that
is characterised by generosity or magnanimity (megalopsychia, magnanimitas),
which is for Nietzsche the ‘crown' of all the virtues.

South African Journal of Philosophy Vol. 26 (1) 2007: pp. 17-30