Ever wonder what happiness looks like? Happiness is friendship! If you are happy in someone’s company, what else might you need? Philosophers talk about virtue because they want to craft a good life. Without virtue, a good life is hardly possible. So, philosophers are looking at friendship through the lens of virtue. Do we have virtue in friendship? And if not, how could we cultivate virtue in friendship?
What is Aristotle friendship?
Aristotle believed that friendship goes beyond temporary connections, associating it with courage, republicanism, and resistance to injustice and tyranny. It brings support and creates a happy union between two or more individuals. Plato and Cicero also wrote about friendship. Friendship is pure love, and it frees us from sufferings. It gives us the true aim of life and develops insights on becoming better individuals. An individual draws a lot from their closer relationships, and so the role of friendship plays an utmost important part in living a life of virtues.
Does Aristotle friendship include moral virtue?
The classic study of friendship is Aristotle’s popular work Nicomachean Ethics. It gives space and utmost importance to moral virtues. Friendship in classical literature is related to human love, the richest and highest form of love. The Renaissance saw a philosophical interest in friendship. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, Michel de Montaigne and Francis Bacon wrote essays in praise of friendship, both arguing that not erotic or familial love, but friendship between mature, equal, and good men is the human bond par excellence. Both Aristotle and Plato agree that in friendship, we can see true characters and the extent of desires to live with others. Thus, friendship, for Aristotle, includes moral virtues.
What are the three set of friendship described by Aristotle?
Three sets of friendship as per Aristotle are: the naturalness of friendship, the self-interest in friendship, and the relationship of friendship to justice. The naturalness of friendship is a bond that is pure and not created for any selfish desires. It is a kind of happy union between two people. In naturalness, the human character is reflected in its truest sense. In the second set, there is togetherness and friendship for the purpose of fulfilling desires. If an intelligent student becomes friends, then it signifies that they want each other’s company to get study help and clear the exams. The relationship of friendship to justice signifies how friendship and justice correlate with each other. Do we need justice in friendship? Is friendship greater than justice or vice versa? The more we could explore on forming a better understanding of the three sets of friendship.
What are the roots of friendships in human nature?
Aristotle says that friendship is either a virtue or involves virtue and has a close connection with moral virtue. In the opening lines of Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle says that what is really good for us is not always pleasant, and that what is right, or noble is often neither good nor pleasant. Aristotle argues that the activity of virtue is the very substance of human happiness. So, root of friendship is basically “virtue”. Virtuous action is presented as supremely choice worthy in itself. The virtuous person expects to be rewarded or honoured as compensation, or at least recognition, for the noble sacrifice made for their own good. This is naturalness of friendship for Aristotle.
What is Happiness for Aristotle?
“Eudaimonia” denotes happiness and well-being, derived from Greek ethics, meaning the wellness of spirit. It is realizing one’s spirit and flourishing. The study of happiness is crucial because everyone seeks happiness and fulfillment, avoiding misery. By realizing our inner good and committing to it, we achieve ultimate happiness. Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” is his best work on living a happy life. Chapters 6-8 discuss happiness as the attainment of the highest virtue, requiring the least possession and the highest satisfaction. Aristotle denies materialistic sources of happiness, focusing on the contemplative path for greater inner satisfaction. He believes that happiness involves living in accordance with complete virtue and being sufficiently equipped with external goods throughout life. Virtue ethics, derived from the concept of eudaimonia, guides us to achieve virtue and live accordingly.
Does virtue and happiness fit together?
Virtue and happiness seem to fit roughly but not perfectly together. The problematic fit between virtue and happiness occurs due to two major peaks of moral virtue: Greatness of soul and justice. The great soul has all the virtue in the highest degree and strives to appear independent and complete in himself. Friendship completes and goes beyond justice, and even seeks justice unnecessary. Thus, Aristotle considers friendship more than moral virtues. However, in book 10, Aristotle argues that the best life does not consist of the active exercise of moral virtue but in the austere and almost solitary life of contemplation. This is because the great soul appears independent. What is independent might not seek temporary relief in friendship. what is independent is capable of nourishing self and therefore it puts the desires of self in front of the desires of others. This friendship for the needs of self is termed by Aristotle as self-interest or selfness in friendship.
What Aristotle suggests about friendship?
Aristotle regarded friendship as both necessary and noble. He emphasizes the necessity of friendship more than its nobility. He suggests that the most important grounds for friendship lie in individuals’ needs or concerns for their own happiness, rather than in an overflow of generous benevolence or selfless sacrifice. He describes this necessity as rich and broad, encompassing needs not just for survival but for broad fulfillment.
Aristotle’s concepts of friendship remind us of our goals for a good life. In a good life, we must be blessed to get along with good friends. Friendship is more important than justice. Friendship saves us from bad intentions and is imbued with morality. True friends can learn and grow together, adding value to life. If one is seeking a life in contemplation, that might not lead to overall development. In a life of solitude, one lacks happiness, but in the company of friends, happiness multiplies. In solitude, one might need justice and receive satisfaction. However, friendship does not require justice and it gives true happiness by satisfying two or more souls to their core.
If you want to read related articles, do check out our post A quick view of theories of Plato & Aristotle and Eudaimonia- Classifying wellness.
Stay Connected with Philotreat
Have you checked our other platforms?
Thank you for being with us. Text us straight on any queries and we would be happy to help you out!
Drop your thoughts below!