Aristotle On Friendship

Aristotle wrote on many subjects in his lifetime but one of the virtues that he examines more extensively is friendship. Aristotle believes that there are three different kinds of friendship: utility, pleasure, and virtuous friendships. He also argues that a real friendship should be highly valued because it is a complete virtue and he believes it to be greater than honor and justice. Aristotle suggests that human’s love of utility and pleasure is the only reason why the first two types of friendships exist. Aristotle also argues that humans only set up these types of relationships for personal gain. But when he speaks of the virtuous friendships, Aristotle states that it is one of the greatest attainments one can achieve.

The friendship of utility is described as a shallow one that can be “easily dissolved”. He views them like this because he states this type of friendship is easily lost. The only true reason these relationships exist according to Aristotle is the idea that both or one of the people has something to offer that the other needs. The bond between the two people is held as long as it is beneficial to either one or both of the individuals in the friendship. So although the people may smile at each other or make small talk if they happen to run across each other’s path, no true relationship is present. If the bond is broken and one or both individuals are no longer being benefitted through the relationship, it ends. I agree with Aristotle’s idea of this specific type of friendship. The utility friendship appears to be just a normal acquaintance. In that case, that leaves a wide number of people this encompasses. There will be a massive amount of utility friendships one will obtain in his or her lifetime d...

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...ship and strip it of every detail imaginable, break it down some more, attempt to summarize it, cut that in half, and then try to put it in three unique categories, that is the idea from Aristotle I are given. I think that because individuals are so unique and every person in a relationship will view that relationship differently, it is more complex than just three categories of friendship.

So if you look at Aristotle’s ideas of what friendship is in the simplest way possible, I agree with him. But if you think about it in a more intricate way, observing every detail, I don’t think friendship can be broken down into three groups. Aristotle has some interesting points regarding each type of friendship, but when it’s viewed collectively, considering the many elements along with it, I don’t think his three categories cover all the potential ideas about friendships.