Aristotle speaks of friendship, saying, “For without friends, no one would choose to live, even though he had all the other goods,” a strong statement. Aristotle discusses the importance of friends and friendship; providing one inspiration, comfort in times of need, assistance, to help direct oneself by advice. That friendship is so important that it is not only isolated to humans, but also spread across other species. He even goes so far as to say that if everyone were friends, justice would not be necessary because people would still treat each other right. Aristotle believes that friendship is a relationship created by affection, and argues that friendship does not apply to items such as artifacts, since one can not wish the entity good, because affection is not reciprocal. To make friendship, Aristotle maintains that it must be “mutually recognized as a goodwill bearer and a good wish to one another.” The three types of friendships are those of pleasure, utility and virtue. Those out of utility are friendships born out of a form of greed. People want something from each other, and they’re going to set up a front. There seems to be less friendship and more courtesy or partnership. Those of pleasure are similar to those of utilities simply because pleasure is similar to utilities, and they both want something from the other. And finally, those of virtue make a “Perfect friendship” because it is between those who do good and have a similar mind, and thus become friends because of their common nature. I do agree that these are three types of “friendships,” but I wouldn’t go as far as calling them all friendships as false friendships, more like partners (non-romantic) or acquaintances. I am aware of such friendships in life, but rarely do I see mutual friendships of pleasure or mutual friendships of usefulness. One such example of friendship of utility is something that was common to me growing up: I, after doing my homework at elementary school, would be interested, and my peers would woo me with the prospect of friendship, take what they needed, and just leave. This follows very closely with Aristotle ‘s description of the wicked nature of utility friendships, but not of the mutual aspects. I needed fellowship on the basis of honesty, they chose one of usefulness. I think, however, that there are situations where I’m seeking to create friends of use about how long they last. One such example is when I play a multiplayer video game, and I make a friend who plays the same game, but friendship ends when the game is over. In essence, we ‘re using each other for how long our alliance can last in the game. On the other hand, I was not personally in friendship for pleasure, although I knew quite a few people who were. Hormone-fueled teenage boys go out to collect women as partners like trophies simply for the physical conquest of sex and drop them just as quickly as they’ve acquired them. I have never connected with these men to a great degree, but their chilling brag will never go unheard of. Speaking about friends about goodness, several of my friends (if not all of them) fell into this group. Though our points of view might not always be identical, we appreciate each other’s company and conversation and can usually depend on each other (apart from this, a great deal of happiness and enjoyment and our relations are the very conversations whether or not our viewpoints are opposite or similar). It seems that the views of the people in friendship are less, but the personality of the people and how easily they mesh and work together.
marlenesolano22. 2020. Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII , By:Aristotle. [online] Available at: <https://marlenesolano22.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/ethics-of-aristotle/> [Accessed 10 July 2020].
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