How Did Aristotle's View Of Friendship

In books 8 and 9 of his Ethics book, Aristotle identified 3 different kind of friendship. There's friendship that comes about when each person is seeking fun. Their chief interest is in their own pleasure and the opportunity of the moment, which the other person provides.

Aristotle once said, “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” There are many things that go into the process of friendship. Some people deal with friendship one way while others deal with it in another way. Cicero had a lot to say about the different aspects of friendship in his time, but how would he view modern friendship? Some friendships Cicero may not be proud of; like the common relationships that are forced on in a classroom or work place and the lack of allowing nature to take control and make the friendships that are meant to happen. However, Cicero would be happy with the way the higher level friendships have developed in virtue

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.

The first friendship that Aristotle mentions in NE VIII.3. is the friendship of utility. Aristotle’s initial claim about the friendship of utility is that “... those who love each other because of utility do not love each other for themselves but in the virtue of some good which they get from each other (NE VIII.3. 1156a.10-12)”. Here Aristotle is claiming

Throughout Cicero’s writing “On Friendship” he stresses the ideals and attributes that go along with having a respectable and a long-lasting friendship. Cicero was a large advocate that friendship was a virtuous and delicate attribute. He wrote through Laelius’ friendship with Scipio to discuss the different ideals and aspects of a why friendship should be treated carefully. Cicero holds friendship to such a significantly high standard, thus why he would agree with the quote by E.M Forster “If I had to choose between betraying my friend and betraying my country, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.” Cicero would have agreed with this because he writes through Laelius and says we should do more for our friends then for ourselves, one should not be friends with tyrants and politics should not be involved with friendships. Cicero evidently holds friendship to a high esteem and believes it should take priority.

We are social creatures. We surround ourselves with other human beings, our friends. It is in our nature. We are constantly trying to broaden the circumference of our circle of friends. Aristotle understood the importance of friendship, books VIII and IX of the Nicomachean Ethics deal solely with this topic. A modern day definition of a friend can be defined as “one joined to another in intimacy and mutual benevolence independently of sexual or family love”. (Oxford English Dictionary). Aristotle’s view on friendship is much broader than this. His arguments are certainly not flawless. In this essay I will outline what Aristotle said about friendship in the Nichomachaen Ethics and highlight possible

According to Aristotle, “friendship is necessary for life”, but what fosters a complete friendship? Aristotle believed that a friendship needs to be “reciprocated goodwill”, and individuals seek the good of the other without any coercion or wrong intention (Book VIII, 1155a, 5-6, 1155b 34). If a level of confidence and love has yet to be established, the friendship can at first appear as a friendship of utility to others. The relationship requires acts of selflessness and mutual partnership in order to move past the surface level connection toward an intimate bond with the other. The outward appearance of utility is overcome by the undeniable bond formed between two individuals who have matured in similar virtue in accord with proper attitude towards the other.

Within book 8 and 9 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he concludes that an excellent friendship is the most choice-worthy good an individual can externally attain (Aristotle 149, 1170a, section 7). However, in chapter 3 of book 8, Aristotle asserts the finest friendships are enduring insofar the individuals are good, and the virtues remain similar. However, his proposal about the similarities of virtues doesn't seem entirely correct since people gradually change over time, but the relationship can continue to be good and the individuals remain close friends. Aristotle would assert that if the virtuous character of the friend were to change, the friendship could potentially dissolve; unless the agent can return their friend to their original state of similarity. This is because his assertion about an enduring friendship requires that the individuals are both good and similar in virtuous behaviour. Nevertheless, this essay aims to argue that friendships are enduring through the means of gaining/building a state of mutual confidence in our friend, rather individuals being similar in virtue.

It takes two friends actively being friends to each other for the relational good of friendship to occur (Fowers, 2005). In real life there is no taking turns in “doing” friendship between friends because it is a shared good.

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.

Friendship in itself is virtuous and when you obtain a true friend not only is establishing the relationship itself seeking virtue but obtaining it as well. This is made evident when Aristotle tells us this, “. . .friendship; for it is a kind of virtue, or implies virtue, and it is also necessary for living” (200). However, for a true friendship to be good, the two bodies of the friendship must be good individually in order to obtain virtue through the relationship. “Only the friendship of those who are good, and similar in their goodness, is perfect. For these people, each alike wish good for the other qua good. . .” (205). Good people are friends because they are both good and seek out goodness in their own lives and do this through their friends. “The good are friends for each other’s sake because their bond is goodness” (208). By befriending good people, you are able to absorb the other person 's goodness, which in turn leads to your own virtue and your virtue only adds to the other 's. “For when a good man becomes a friend to another he becomes that other’s good; so each loves his own good, and repays what he receives by wishing the good of the other…” (209).

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.

The 5 basis set up in Aristotle’s Ethics are explained on page 252 and are as followed; “A person who wished for and does what is good or what appears to him to be good for his friends sake, a person who wished for the existence and life of his friend for a friends sake, a person who spends his time in our company, whose desires are the same as ours, and a person who shared sorrow and joy with his friend. An overall message of “one must do well for others in order to be a proper friend”1 can be understood with the five basis of friendship to determine if a person is an ideal friend.

There are three kinds of friendship, according to Aristotle. The first type of friendship 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, looks, or other pleasant qualities. The third and final type of friendship is based on goodness, in which the individuals admire their friend’s goodness and in which they help one another in their pursuit for happiness. The first two friendships are mostly accidental, due to the friends being more motivated by their own pleasure and utility and not by anything essential to their friend. Both kinds are short-lived because one

Growing up in a military family, I never had a plethora of friends. I would make friends, develop relationships with them, and then pack up and move within the span of a year or two. I often found myself alone while others had strong, friendships with their peers that flourished and blossomed over the years. However, that all changed when I moved to California before my freshman year of high school and met the one person who changed me for the better – my best friend Rachel. Our friendship was instantaneous; she helped me grow as a person and I helped her as well. To this day, we are still best friends who continuously help each other strive for the best. This type of friendship is one of virtue - the type of friendship preached about by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics. My friendship with Rachel was one of the best, most genuine friendships I have ever had.