Nietzsche and Friendship by Willow Verkerk;

Author:Willow Verkerk;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

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Nietzsche and Aristotle on Character, Virtue, and the Limits of Friendship

Unsurprisingly, Nietzsche scholars take very different positions on the influence of Aristotle on Nietzsche when it comes to character, virtue, and friendship. Walter Kaufmann claimed that Aristotle’s ethics influenced Nietzsche significantly, especially his concept of greatness of soul (megalopsychia) (Kaufmann 1974: 382). More recently, Robert Williams has agreed, proposing that there is a connection between Aristotle and Nietzsche’s senses of noble self-love (Williams 2012: 55). On the other side, Bernd Magnus rejected Kaufmann’s reading of Nietzsche for failing to acknowledge that Nietzsche would never subscribe to Aristotle’s understanding of the good life and happiness (Magnus 1980). He has been echoed by authors, such as Christine Daigle and Lester Hunt, who reject the connection between Aristotelian virtue and Nietzsche’s ethics.1 Although commentators have examined the links between Aristotle and Nietzsche’s senses of self-love and even acknowledge that Aristotle’s concept of greatness of soul likely influenced Nietzsche, none have examined Nietzsche’s character of the bestower (and the bestowing virtue) and how the bestower shares similar character traits with Aristotle’s megalopsychos or great-souled man.2

The first part of this chapter will articulate the meaning of flourishing for Nietzsche and examine Nietzsche’s re-evaluation of virtue. To put it simply, flourishing is connected to the experience of accumulating and discharging power for Nietzsche. Nietzsche introduces the notion of bestowing in Thus Spoke Zarathustra as a concept which modifies the Aristotelian understanding of virtue into a strength which facilitates the Nietzschean notion of flourishing. After examining Nietzsche’s re-evaluation of virtue through his notion of bestowing and how it relates to his ethics of friendship, the role that self-love plays in friendship will be explored. The question of whether self-love and friendship can coexist without limiting flourishing is pursued.

In the second part of this chapter, Aristotle’s great-souled man (megalopsychos) is analysed as a model for questioning Nietzsche’s bestowing friend and their virtue (schenkenden Tugend). The high character of the great-souled man, as well as his need for superiority and the honours relevant to his position, isolates him from others. Both Nietzsche and Aristotle imply that those who have the most to give – respectively, the bestower and the megalopsychos – have a difficult time accepting friendship. I ask if Nietzsche’s bestowing friendship dismisses the elements of reciprocity that are central to Aristotle’s understanding of friendship. If a bestower, who excels in self-love, expresses their generosity to one whom they deem worthy but not equal can this be conceived of as friendship? Is it possible for a great-souled man or a bestower to have friends? As people who have great worldly aims, one must ask if Aristotle and Nietzsche believe that there are some people whose work supersedes the ethical value of friendship. Many have posed the question of whether greatness of soul or friendship is the crown of the virtues for Aristotle. In the context of this chapter, the question becomes, ‘Can one’s virtuous tasks supersede the importance of friendship?’ My suspicion is that Nietzsche’s bestower is troubled

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