Aristotle Without Friendship Research Paper

Nicomachean ethics focuses on valuable friendships and the characteristics that work together to form a long-lasting, virtuous friendship. To have a friend you must be a friend. To be a friend does not simply mean to be closely related to a person, or to be around them for extended periods of time. To be a friend does not even mean that you are putting in effort to be there for another person. According to Aristotle, to be a friend means to be virtuous in character and to therefore apply those virtues to another human being. Friends must be giving, but giving so that they receive a reward in return. True friendship is mutual; friendship must be composed of two parties that have mutual respect and love for eachother, but do not expect anything in return. In “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle, Aristotle identifies three types of friendships: the friendship that seeks to benefit the good, superiority in friendship, and friendship for sake of utility, and how each differ greatly from each other. (Aristotle 4).

In his time, Aristotle wrote many works on different topics. In arguably one of his most popular works, Nicomachean Ethics, specifically in Book 8, he explores the virtue of friendship. He believes that there are three branches of friendship: that of utility (where two parties derive some benefit from each other), of pleasure (where two parties come together for the sake of pleasure received) and that of the good (where two parties of similar good virtues come together, admire one another for it and help each other strive for more goodness). The last of these types is of the highest form, with Aristotle describing it to be ‘perfect’. It is also naturally permanent unlike the other two, because these friends are not concerned about any other external factor outside of the other’s personality and virtues.

In the writings of Aristotle, seen in Nicomachean Ethics, it is evident that Aristotle believes that friendship is necessary for a virtuous and therefore happy life. I believe that this is accurate due to the similar conditions necessary for a complete friendship and a happy life. It is also evident that friendship is useful in achieving a happy life because friendship can make performing virtuous actions easier. His interpretation can be misunderstood and mistakes in practice can be made, so we will need to discuss these follies as well, in order to understand all the effects of friendship on achieving a happy life.

He makes it sound like friends of pleasure and utility shouldn't even be considered a friendship. To Aristotle the main part of a friendship is loving one another. A friendship of love and pleasure doesn't involve loving one another. Aristotle believes that you should be friends with someone based on who they are and that it shouldn't be out of pleasure or out of using someone. Also, Aristotle states that in order to have a good friendship there has to be trust.

Aristotle wrote Nicomachean Ethics. "Chapter VIII" is about friendship. There are three main or basic forms of friendship. The first one is the friendship of good men, the only true friendship. The friendship of good men will help another friend strive for goodness. The second one is the friendship of pleasure. Friendship based on pleasure is where both people are drawn to each other's good looks and humor. The third one is the friendship of utility. Friendship based on utility tends to end abruptly because one friend's needs and benefits will change over time.

Aristotle begins book VIII by setting some ground work on friendship. Aristotle explains that friendship is something that is “ indispensable for life.” Not one person chooses to not have friends, therefore, it something that involves everyone. He later goes in depth on the fact that there are three categories of friendship: useful, pleasure, and goodness. Useful friendship is when each individual has a benefit from the other. In the case of pleasure friendship, each person in the relationship are drawn to the others personality or physical attributes. According to the text, many younger individuals seem to have a pleasure type friendship. As each individual grows older, the friends leave quickly just like they came in. When I look back at

There are many views that Aristotle holds, one of which is on the subject of friendship. Aristotle views friendship as one of the many virtues of life, and has very interesting views on the topic. He gives three different types of friendship, and objects that are worthy of affection: Utility, Pleasure, and Good. Each of these types is differently put on the spectrum. Along with these three types of friendship, Aristotle also gives conditions to what friendship is.

The proposition is that the virtuous agents are benefitting off each-other, through an egoistic manner. It is evident that the virtuous friendship entails the concepts of egocentrism as Aristotle quotes, “the friend is another himself” (142, 9.4.SS5.30). The ideal Aristotelian friendship is where friends resemble the each other, through similar strains of thinking. Significantly, the concept of egocentrism means if the friends are like us, to disagree with them would be contradicting ourselves. In effect, the friendship based off similarity is enduring, because the agents whom think alike will avoid conflict with each other since they will agree with each other on many grounds. Significantly, the excellent Aristotelian friendship would seem to require that our friends “praise everything to please us and never cross us” (62 section 1). This is further evident when he asserts the friendship of virtue is immune to slander (126, section 7 line 10). The concept of slander can be interpreted as a form of disagreement/quarrel between individuals, and taking insult from this dissimilarity. Problematically, this would leave no room for dispute on differing idea’s, or to further explore different perspectives. Furthermore, the qualification of the virtuous friendship aims to use the similarities of the peer as a moderator, which would benefit the agent in their pursuit towards achieving an intermediate state. The closer the similarities are between individuals, the better they can moderate each other’s actions/intentions. If one of the agents were to act out of line, their friend would respond accordingly and put them back on track. However, presuming the individuals in the relationship are excellent people since they are virtuous, they ought to unconditionally desire to aid their friend, for the good of the friend. Arguably, if the virtues of the friend were to change sporadically or gradually, the right response of the loving agent would be to adjust their behaviour to aid their friend through whatever situation they are undergoing. Significantly, empathy becomes a key requirement for enduring friendships, because it demonstrates we can positively react to our friend’s change (and vice-versa). However, Aristotle uses

According to Aristotle there are three major forms of friendship; pleasure, utility, and character. A character friendship is a friendship that is held between two people who are both virtuous, or good, and wish to bring out the good in the other person. The friendship is based on wanting the other person to be good, not to receive a benefit from them becoming better, but because they want to see their friend become better for the sake of their friend. Aristotle describes this type of friendship as the highest form of friendship because both people in the friendship are morally good people who wish to make each other even morally better. While pleasure and utility friendships are easy and can dissolve quickly if something were to cause conflict,

In book eight of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines the three types of friendships that exist in the Greek word philia (a broader definition of friendship than one might think), which are based off usefulness, pleasure, or goodness, the three reasons for liking something: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure and complete friendships. In the beginning, Aristotle says that friendship is a virtue or at least involves virtue. It is necessary to life, since no one would choose to live without friends even if he had all other material goods. Friendships serve as a refuge in times of misfortune, it helps prevent the young from making error, helps the old in their weakness, helps those in the prime of life to perform noble actions and holds cities together. Parents have a natural friendship with their children, and to a certain degree those who are similar. When men are friends, there is no need of justice, but when even if men are just, friendship is still necessary; and the justice that is most just seems to belong to friendship. Friendship takes time. Aristotle distinguishes between what he believes to be a genuine friendship and two other forms: one based on mutual usefulness, the other on pleasure. These two forms only last if there is utility and pleasure, whereas a complete friendship does not dissolve.

I agree with Aristotle's descriptions of friendship. The three types of friendship that he described were utility, pleasure, and goodness. The first type, utility, is when both people benefit from each other, and that usually happens during trade, or business deals, or for a long-term benefit. I agree with this type of friendship as my friends have helped me in situations before. The second type of friendship that Aristotle described was pleasure, where both people are drawn to other’s good looks, wits, or some other type of pleasant qualities that they offer. It’s usually seen in lover’s bond, where young people are influenced greatly by passion and love. The last type of friendship is goodness, where both people admire

However, this breadth in his explanations is not something casual, but rather responds to Aristotle’s belief that friendship is something particularly valuable and we would say that is something unique in the life of human beings. Friendship, in fact, is an incentive, among others, for a happy life is --in Aristotle’s words-- "as necessary for life" as necessary for a happy life itself. Therefore, Aristotle says, "For no one would choose to live without friends even if he had all the other goods” (Nicomachean Ethics VIII 1155a, pp. 119). Moreover, besides necessary, friendship is something noble, something beautiful, for it is a virtue, or it involves virtue. Ultimately, since human being is a social animal, which naturally tends to coexistence with other human beings, friendship is the fullest realization of sociability and more fulfilling way of living.

Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher. Aristotle’s philosophy was his logical concept. Aristotle’s objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every imaginable thing about reality. He wrote on a vast amount of subjects during his lifetime, such as biology, chemistry, physics, ethics and logic. Aristotle wrote a book called, Nicomachean Ethics. This book describes the view of friendship. He also describes three different type of friendship, which in reality is exactly how friendship is in today society. The question while reading this information is what is friendship in Aristotle point of view? Aristotle believes that there are three different kinds of friendship; that of utility, friendship of pleasure, and virtuous friendship. In his book he describe exactly what each type of friendship really is.

There are three types of friendship according to Aristotle. The first type of friendship is based on utility. In this type of friendship, both individuals get some sort of benefit from their friend. The second type of friendship is based on pleasure. Here, both individuals are drawn to the other’s personality, appearance, and other qualities. The third type of friendship, according to Aristotle, is based on goodness: “[This]… friendship is the friendship of good people similar in virtue; for they wish goods in the same way to each other in so far as they are good, and they are good in themselves” (Pakaluk 33). To Aristotle, the individuals admire their friend’s goodness and in which they help one another in their pursuit for happiness and goodness. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the friendship between Hamlet and Horatio falls under the third type of friendship, although with some exception.

Aristotle dedicates two books to the topic of friendship in Nicomachean Ethics. He discusses three types of friendships; Friendships of utility, pleasure,