Aristotle on Friendship Essay

There are over six billion people on Earth today. Each of those people has countless relationships, which extend further into an immense network of relations among thousands of individuals. These relations can be romantic, professional, unconditional, mutual, or the strongest of all, friendship. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism.

Friendship, according to Aristotle there are 3 definitions of friendship. Friendship of Utility, “thus friends whose affection is based on utility do not love each other in themselves, but in so far as some benefit accrues to them from each other.” Friendship of Pleasure, “And similarly with those whose friendship is based on pleasure: for instance, we enjoy the society of witty people not because of what they are in themselves, but because they are agreeable to us.” Friendship of the Good. “The perfect form of friendship is that between the good, and those who resemble each other in virtue. For these friends wish each alike the other’s good in respect of their goodness, and they are good in themselves; but it is those who wish the good of their friends for their friends’ sake who are friends in the fullest sense, since they love each other for themselves and not accidentally. Hence the

In “What are friends for?” by Marion Winik, She explains the type of friends that you may encounter throughout your lifetime. Winik explains the benefits of each friend and the impact that they have on your life. There are eight types of friends which are your Buddies, Relative friends, Work friends, Faraway friends, Former friends, Friends you love to hate, Hero friends, and New friend. They all play a role in your life. They make your life exciting. They are the reason why you don’t go totally insane. Friends are there to help you out.

Despite the numerous different theories consisting of different stages of friendship they all contain certain aspects of relationships going through stages of increasing familiarity. They all show how we select friends through a stage model and how relationships also break down in stages. They provide Factors that increase friendship like after helping another person we like them more due to feelings and emotions such as empathy, or a decline in a relationship by the need for too much help and support that can cause stress and anxieties. If we feel empathy we are likely to help, and there are several factors that increase chances of friendship,

The theme of friendship courses through Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen. Potok desires to show the reader what a strong friendship looks like and how it stands up to the test of time. When two people know each other well and spend a lot of time together, there are bound to be misunderstandings, fights, and other trials. Yet God says in His word “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (New American Standard Bible, Proverbs 27:17) Even when friendships are difficult, they can “sharpen” the people involved in the friendship, like in the case of Danny and Reuven. Danny and Reuven’s friendship lasts through Danny’s irrational behavior, Reuven’s outbursts of anger, and Reb Saunders’s absurd beliefs.

I believe Cicero position in the discussion about friendship is stronger than Aristotle’s position because Cicero believes friendship exists between two people, he also went deep in talking about friendship, the limits of friendship, how loyalty is important in friendship, the way friendships get stronger and older, which is also talked about the golden rule of friendship which he stated in section nineteen “put yourself on a level with your friends”. He also talked about the cause of friendship which he stated in section eleven that a belief in a man’s virtue is the original cause of friendship that friendship can hardly remain if virtue be abandon. By this , he made me understand virtue

Age of Economics”, that there are three types of friends according to Aristotle, which are friends

Friendships of virtue, unlike friendships of utility and pleasure, which can include a circle of friends, are strictly one on one relationships. These types of friendships can only occur between two people of the same virtues and both persons have to be virtuous. One can only become virtuous through wisdom and age. Therefore friendships of virtue are not found among young people. It is a relationship of mutual respect and love. The persons in this type of relationship are not in it because they gain something from the relationship, they are not friends because

There are many different types of friendship, Lewis argues, such as companionship and friendship among romantic lovers. A true friend is found when individuals “discover that they have in common some insight or interest or taste which others do not share… [which

They engulf us for a short period and then they fade... We cultivate a colleague in the field or a contact outside of it in the hope that it will advance our career or enhance out status. When it does, we feel a sence of personal success,” (May). He is addressing the two types of friendship of most common and most easily established. Friendships of pleasure are often short, because people take entertainment from one thing, then move on to the next when it becomes dull.

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.

The friendships form because they lack care from other people in their lives and need the friendship to compensate their loss of emotion. Although two people in the friendship have different genders and ages, they have similar life experiences and living background so they can understand each other’s feelings.

In life there are many changes that can cause a true friendship to go wary such as marriage, divorce, birth of children, new careers, and sickness. However, through each of those events the two must remember to keep the intimacy, the letting down of emotional barriers and the expression of innermost thoughts and feelings, “that which makes friendships thrive must be an enjoyable one” and to “always interact” (Karbo 3). Although psychologists continue to research the formation of friendships the great philosopher Aristotle knew exactly how friendships formed and how the lasted.

There are a lot of important things in life. However, one of the most important things for people to survive in this world is friendship. Without friendship, people can die of loneliness. What do you think about your friends? Do you like your friends? There are a lot of different types of friends. There are friends that I like and some friends with whom I do not get along. Friends with positive characteristics such as reliable, trustworthy and faithful whom I usually get along with are the one that tend to have more friends and the negative one whom I usually not get along with tend to be alone. However, friends with negative characteristic can also give us some good examples of seeing double sides of something, like, a character can be

Aristotle highlighted the importance of friendship through various practices and concepts, such as utility and virtue. Virtuous practices were believed to enhance the friendship and encourage happiness among the participants (Kraut 64). Unfortunately, a friend whose behavior and practices are malevolent causes a rift in the practice of Aristotle’s principles. Therefore, to preserve the friendship and to protect one’s friend, one must do all that is possible to cease his or her friend’s actions.