Aristotle On Friendship
...undoubtedly one of the most important elements in the
books of Aristotle's ethical principles. Aristotle takes the idea of friendship
to a serious degree. He categorizes them into three groups or types of
friendships. This report will attempt to define each type of friendship as well
as identify the role of friendship in a society.
Aristotle considers friendship to be a necessity to live. He claims
that no individual would chose to live without friends even if the individual
had all of the other good things in life. He also describes friendship as a
virtue and as just. Given the above statements on friendship, it is safe to say
that Aristotle felt that friendship is something that every human must have in
order to reach a peaceful state of mind. It has all of the qualities of good as
long as both parties of a friendship are considered good. Therefore, the role
of friendship in a society is to promote goodness between all parties involved
in it.
As previously mentioned, Aristotle has identified three different types
of friendships. The first is friendship based on utility. This is a friendship
in which both parties become involved with each other for their own personal
benefit. An example would be a working relationship with an individual. These
are people who do not spend much time together, possibly because they do not
like each other, and therefore feel no need to associate with one another unless
they are mutually useful. They take pleasure from each other's company just for
their own sake. Aristotle uses the elderly and foreigners as examples of
friendships based on utility.
The second type of friendship is a friendship based on pleasure. This
friendship is made between two people that wish to gain pleasure from one
another. Aristotle uses the young as an example here. Friendship between the
young is grounded on pleasure because the lives...
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