Aristotles Friendship Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotles fellowship Nicomachean moral philosophyAristotle addresses the topic of companionship in mass 8 and 9 of his Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle makes the argu manpowert that friends apprize be regarded as second selves. Aristotle says that besides as virtuous behavior improves an individual, friends turn in the potential to generate improvements upon to each one otherwises lives. The principal(prenominal) gist of Aristotles argument is on the relationship between knowledge and umpire (102). He asserts that if people stay friends, they do not have some(prenominal) deprivation for evaluator, but if they primary(prenominal)tain umpire, they likewise need intimacy in addition. This paper shows that the arguments that Aristotle makes in support of this assertion is convincing. Addition 2y, the arguments made here explicate both the ethical and political importance of friendship for Aristotle.Aristotle categorizes friendships into iii categories friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure, and friendships of the salutary (107). He asserts that the failure or success of ones friend is meet wish the ones own failure or success. Friendships of pleasure atomic number 18 based on delight in other peoples company alone. People who drink beer together argon said to be in this friendship. However, when these people no long-term enjoy sharing the activity, the friendship whitethorn come to an end.Friendships of utility ar those friendships that are formed with no regard to the other psyche. When a person is buying merchandise, has to meet the seller, but the relationship that is required is rather sh each(prenominal)ow. The all reason why much(prenominal) people communicate is for them to complete business. Typically, quarrels may result in this friendship solely.Friendship of the broad(a) involves the enjoyment of each others characters. As long as these friends master(prenominal)tain their similar characters, their relationshi p endures because its main motive is care for each other. This is friendship at its best, what in upstart English may be referred to as true friendship.In Book 8, Aristotle says that with kayoed friends, nobody would choose life. Even those people in possession of all the goods that they need in life, including high office, need friends. They do not savvy the use of all such(prenominal) prosperity without an opportunity of beneficence, which can only be exercised in its most laudable form towards friends. Similarly, it is impossible to have prosperity without friends.Aristotle also indicates that friends are the only refuge when misfortunes and poverty select (108). For the young, friendships are a way of avoiding straying. For older people, it is useful for ministering to their needs as well as supplementing the various activities that could be failing as a result of weakness.For Aristotle, friendships place to be holding states together, and lawgivers are more too-careful about friendships than for justice. Since unanimity seems to be like friendship, they aim at this most of the time, and strive to expel faction as their worst enemy. It is on this nates that he indicates that when men are friends, they need justice. However, when they are just, they require justice as well. The truest form of justice according to Aristotle is panorama to be an changeless friendly quality (118). Friendships are considered not only necessary, but also noble, since people al slipway praise those who show love for their friends. It is also thought to be a great thing to have universey friends.The disparate kinds of friendships may be realizeed if attention was shifted to the object of love, in which shell only the lovable objects can be loved. Lovable objects are those that pleasant, good or useful. For this reason, friends are formed on the basis of the good and pleasure that is produced, which has to be useful. However, a clash emerges in this argument, especia lly in find whether men love the good or what they consider good for them. whatever is good for a man, though, becomes the object of his friendship. The clash arises in that each man loves not just what is good, but that seems good for him. For Aristotle, this makes no difference.Aristotle poses the question of whether grace of God in itself constitutes friendship. In this case, good impart amounts to friendship only when the feeling is reciprocated (120). This is because, umteen a(prenominal) people may have grace for those they have not necessarily judged to be useful or good. This raises the genuine difficulty of telling who friends authentically are without their feelings world communicated. To be friends, then, on that point is a need for feelings to be mutually recognized as wishes of goodwill to each other.In wrong of justice, the friendship of the good is enough proof against slander. This is because it is difficult to trust anyone extract a man who has been test ed by oneself. When all the things that are demanded in friendship are found, true friendship is said to inhabit. However, nothing pr even upts various evils arising, such that the assertion that he would neer wrong seems to be inaccurate.Considering the three forms of friendships, it is true to say that bad men will always be friends for the sake of utility or pleasure, plot good men will always be friends for their own sake, that is, for the virtue of their goodness. In the latter case, these are friends without qualifications season others are accidental friends, for whom, the only thing that they share is the proportion of needs.In efforts to explain why the truest friendship is the one that one of the good, Aristotle argues that the friendship that is without qualification pleasant or good seems to be desirable or lovable. Here, the impression made is that love is merely a feeling, and friendship a state of character. The mutual love for certain choices springs from the st ate of character of the friends. work force prevail to wish well those they love, not because of a feeling, but as a result of a certain state of character.In lovely friends, men indicate their love for what is good for themselves. Aristotle completes the logical analysis by saying that in becoming a friend, a man ideally becomes good to his friends (129). Each of them, then, both love what is good for himself, while at the same time making an equal return through goodwill and pleasantness. In this sense, friendship is said to be similar to the thought of equality. Incidentally, both the concepts of goodwill and pleasantness are found in the concepts of friendship and equality. about people appear to like be loved instead of sweet, generally because of ambition. Aristotle supports this proposition by saying that this is the reason why most men love flattery since the flatterer takes the position of inferiority in a friendship, or pretends to be such and to more be more loving than he is being loved. Most people aim at being loved since this is akin to being honored. With friendship, thither is love. Therefore, friendship does a visual modality of justice by making everyone feel honored. If people did not the monetary value that bind them in various forms of friendships, there would be no need for justice.From the arguments that Aristotle makes, friendship and justice appear to be concerned with similar objects, and show between the same persons. In Aristotles view, there is thought to be a certain form of justice as well as friendship in every community. Friendship depends on community, and brothers and friends tend to have numerous things in common, including, in some cases, property.Aristotle ventures into what appears like a contradiction when he says that claims of justice tend to differ. However, he makes his argument clear by gift examples of duties of parents to children, as well as those of brothers to each other, which he says are never th e same. The same case applies to the duties of comrades and their fellow citizens. The same case applies to all other kinds of friendships that exist.On the basis of this argument, it is possible for one to draw a latitude between the principles of justice and the principles of friendship. It appears that where one applies, the other cannot apply. Injustice increases when it is exhibited towards people who are considered friends in the fuller sense. For obiter dictum, it sounds more offensive to defraud a comrade than to defraud a fellow citizen. It is also more offensive to track ones brother assistance than to refuse to help a stranger. It is more unholy for one to kill ones mother than to kill any other citizen. The demands of justice, therefore, appear to increase with the insensitivity of the level of friendship. This implies that there is a limit of friendship to which justice does not apply. It also implies that when there is justice, friendship becomes a necessity, such that when the concept of justice is introduced into a scenario where friendship is at play, both elements tend to have an equal extension.Aristotle also assesses the position of friendship vis--vis that of justice by bringing into perspective the concept of constitution (119). He identifies three kinds of constitutions monarchy, aristocracy, and timocracy or what many people refer to as polity. The best constitution, according to Aristotle, is monarchy, while the worst is timocracy. Although both monarchy and timocracy are a one-man rule systems, the main difference between them is that the tyrant looks at his own advantage while the king looks to the advantage of his subjects.Each of these constitutions may involve friendship just as much as it involves justice. The friendship that exists between the king and all his subjects is dependent on the benefits conferred, and Aristotle likens it to the friendship of the father to his son, the only difference being the greatness of all the benefits conferred.The reason why Aristotle brings into perspective the aspect of constitutionality is to retch light on the concept of friendship as it applies to governments. His arguments make the concept of friendship to predominate that of justice. At the same time, he seems to suggest that justice cannot take place in a vacuum there has to be a friendly relationship of sorts between all the participants in the good process within a given jurisdiction.In the deviation-forms of constitution, justice exactly exists the same case applies to friendship. In the least, friendship exists in its worst form, such that in a form of government such as tyranny, there is too little or no friendship at all. This is because of the want of anything to be shared between the ruler and the ruled. Even if justice was to exist in such a type of constitution, people would not measure it since the spirit of friendship is lacking.In Aristotles view, in every form of friendship, there has to be some form of association. For instance, the friendship that exists between brothers and sisters is born out of a shared parentage and upbringing. Aristotle also carries the association debate even further, noting that friendships form the basis of humankinds very existence. Particularly, he indicates that man has a design to form couples and households more readily than even cities. He also notes that contrasted animals, mans associations in the form of couples are not for reproduction purposes only, but for many other purposes in life.To this extent, the tendency to form marriages arise from not just pleasure but also utility. Through such illustrations, Aristotle provides a clear proof of the power of friendship over justice (138). Although friendships of utility are always full of complaints, this does not necessarily mean that an injustice has been committed against the complainant rather, it is normal for the process of bargaining and haggling to be characterized by tough ta lk and claims of unfair pricing. No form of justice can be said to have taken place in such engagements, regardless of the outcome of the bargaining process. Everything is left in the hands of the two people who have become friends of convenience in order to transact business.In Aristotles view, two types of justices are worth considering for purposes of assessing their applicability to friendships off-the-cuff and reasoned justice. The legal type is one where the terms are fixed, while the unwritten one is the one where moral values are conventionally applied. Aristotles explanation of the applicability of both unwritten laws and legal laws is enlightening on the ways in which friendship takes the place of justice. In the same light, friendship is set as necessary where the formal rules of justice require to be applied, for instance in the legal laws. In other words, even where legal laws have been put in place for political reasons, friendship is needed in order for the ethica l aspects of justice to be put into consideration.Work CitedAristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics (Translated by Ross, David. Oxford Oxford University Press, 1980.