These proposed virtues are drawn from Beyond Good and Evil.
Reference: What Nietzsche Really Said.
Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins, Shocken Books, NY (2000) p. 178
Courage - Courage in America has been endangered by an epidemic of bullying, not merely obvious cases of physical abuse, but a general culture which threatens to drown out the meaning of courage which is standing up with dignity for values you hold dear if they are threatened.
Insight - Americans appear to have a good deal more insight individually than would be inferred from watching TV or being exposed to advertising. Typically insight is demeaned by these forces and we become prey to the temptation to conform to what we think is a norm.
Sympathy - Sympathy is perhaps the strongest American virtue. Responses to need. It strengthens the impulse to courage and can lead to deeper insight. To the extent that it looks beyond groups and embraces all people it is efficacious and desirable.
Solitude - Unfortunately our sprawl society enforces a form of solitude which speaks more of loneliness than the virtue of thinking one's own thoughts and leading one's own life with independence and trust in one's own heart and mind. Emersonian self-reliance is probably more often spoken of than manifested.
Insight - Americans appear to have a good deal more insight individually than would be inferred from watching TV or being exposed to advertising. Typically insight is demeaned by these forces and we become prey to the temptation to conform to what we think is a norm.
Sympathy - Sympathy is perhaps the strongest American virtue. Responses to need. It strengthens the impulse to courage and can lead to deeper insight. To the extent that it looks beyond groups and embraces all people it is efficacious and desirable.
Solitude - Unfortunately our sprawl society enforces a form of solitude which speaks more of loneliness than the virtue of thinking one's own thoughts and leading one's own life with independence and trust in one's own heart and mind. Emersonian self-reliance is probably more often spoken of than manifested.
