“Aristotle considers friendships to be a necessity to live. He claims that no individual would choose to live without friends even if the individual had all of the other good things in life.” (anonymous author)
How have you strengthened your own friendships, lately?
The Friendship Skit – I Love Lucy (2:04) *
Into Africa Nature LP Meditation (31:24)
Friendship
by Henry David Thoreau
I think awhile of Love, and while I think,
Love is to me a world,
Sole meat and sweetest drink,
And close connecting link
Tween heaven and earth.
I only know it is, not how or why,
My greatest happiness;
However hard I try,
Not if I were to die,
Can I explain.
I fain would ask my friend how it can be,
But when the time arrives,
Then Love is more lovely
Than anything to me,
And so I’m dumb.
For if the truth were known, Love cannot speak,
But only thinks and does;
Though surely out ’twill leak
Without the help of Greek,
Or any tongue.
A man may love the truth and practise it,
Beauty he may admire,
And goodness not omit,
As much as may befit
To reverence.
But only when these three together meet,
As they always incline,
And make one soul the seat,
And favorite retreat,
Of loveliness;
When under kindred shape, like loves and hates
And a kindred nature,
Proclaim us to be mates,
Exposed to equal fates
Eternally;
And each may other help, and service do,
Drawing Love’s bands more tight,
Service he ne’er shall rue
While one and one make two,
And two are one;
In such case only doth man fully prove
Fully as man can do,
What power there is in Love
His inmost soul to move
Resistlessly.
______
Two sturdy oaks I mean, which side by side,
Withstand the winter’s storm,
And spite of wind and tide,
Grow up the meadow’s pride,
For both are strong
Above they barely touch, but undermined
Down to their deepest source,
Admiring you shall find
Their roots are intertwined
Insep’rably.
Aristotle on Friendships
Friendship is 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 choose 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. Friendships between the young are grounded on pleasure because the lives of the young are regulated by their feelings, and their main interest is in their own pleasure and the opportunity of the moment. They are quick to create and destroy friendships because their affection changes as fast as the things that please them do. Aristotle felt that this sort of pleasure changes rapidly. The young also have a tendency to fall in love, thus creating an erotic friendship which is swayed by the feelings and based on pleasure.
Finally, we have what is considered the by Aristotle as the perfect friendship. This is called the friendship based on goodness. This kind of friendship is between those that desire the good of their friends for their friend’s sake not their own. Each friend loves the other for what he is, not for a particular quality. This type of friendship can last as long as the friends remain good. The friendship just might last forever. Aristotle considers it a permanent friendship because in it are all of the attributes that friends ought to possess. This friendship differs than the others mentioned because all the parties involved have each other’s qualities. There is no need to use the other for pleasure or utility. They are in it for each other.
As you can see, Aristotle held friendship in high regard. He considered it something to better the society as well as the individual. His definitions of the types of friendships can make one relate to his or her own friends. One can try to determine the type of friendships that one may have or wish to have with his or her friends. It would certainly be a challenge in today’s day and age to find a friendship based on goodness. Perhaps it can be achieved.
(http://www.english-for-students.com/aristotle-on-friendship.html)
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