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Philosophy aristotle conception of friendship final essay
Philosophy aristotle conception of friendship final essay
Aristotle On Friendships
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I We know that Aristotle thinks that
(a) the good life consists in excellent, distinctively human activity,
(b) such activity involves character and an ideal of what is noble and worth
doing for its own sake, and
(c) that this activity is (deeply) enjoyable and satisfying because in so acting,
the virtuous person is doing just what she wants to be doing.
II In Books VIII and IX, Aristotle discusses the role of friendship in the good life.
From what has been said so far, it is clear that he must think there is an intimate link
between friendship and virtuous activity. What does Aristotle think friendship is
such that it is so closely tied to the virtuous activity in which a good life consists?
III As usual, Aristotle begins with consensus among thoughtful people. The
indispensable value of friendship is not in dispute: “without friends no one would
choose to live, though he had all other goods.” (1155a5) So it is agreed that
friendship is an ineliminable part of a good human life. But, again, what is
friendship that it is so valuable? And, more specifically, how does this truth fit with
Aristotle’s doctrine that the good life consists of virtuous activity?
IV Aristotle distinguishes three kinds of friendship:
a. relationships of mutual utility or advantage,
b. relationships of mutual pleasure,
c. relationships of mutual love essentially including esteem of the other’s
character.
He says only the third is a friendship in the most genuine and noble sense.
Now the claim that genuine friends are characterized by esteem of each other’s
character may seem odd at first. We may be apt to think of friends as caring about
each other in a way that is not obviously related to character. I want my friends to
flourish for their own sake. What is the relation between a mutual desire for the
other’s flourishing and mutual esteem of character?
V Aristotle argues that only in a relation of mutual esteem between virtuous people:
a. does each love the other “as being the man he is” (1156a20) as opposed
to as a source of advantage or pleasure,
b. will the relationship endure, independently of the vagaries of fluctuating
circumstance, mood, etc. (1156b1)
c. is the relationship reciprocal in the best sense, since “each gets from each
in all respects the same as, or something like what, he gives.
In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle works to foster a more precise understanding of complex ideas including justice and friendship. Of course, he assigns varying levels of importance to qualities depending on how necessary they are to becoming a happy and self-sufficient individual, which he sees as the ultimate aim for human beings. As such, he seems to create a hierarchical structure in which aspects that push an individual closer to happiness are effectively superior to those which do not. Yet, as he develops the ideas of friendship and justice more, dividing them into their constituent categories, the hierarchy between them begins to become more obscured, suggesting that, rather than the two existing in service of one or the other, the
In the writings of Aristotle, seen in Nicomachean Ethics, it is evident that Aristotle believes that friendship is necessary for a virtuous and therefore happy life. I believe that this is accurate due to the similar conditions necessary for a complete friendship and a happy life. It is also evident that friendship is useful in achieving a happy life because friendship can make performing virtuous actions easier. His interpretation can be misunderstood and mistakes in practice can be made, so we will need to discuss these follies as well, in order to understand all the effects of friendship on achieving a happy life.
Friendship is a bond that brings society together as a whole. The article, “Friendship in an Age of Economics” by Todd May describes six friendships that pertains to life. In the Of Mice and Men excerpt, the reader meets two characters, George and Lennie, and their friendship is shown. Of the six friendships, in “Friendship in an Age of Economics,” the true friendship, developed by Aristotle, is used in Of Mice and Men through George and Lennie’s relationship because of how they act towards each other, and how they take care of one another through many different ways.
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
Aristotle presents his view of the mutual desire for good in others, or Friendship in his work, The Nicomachean Ethics. He asserts that friendship comes in three types, Virtue Friendship, Use Friendship, and Pleasure Friendship. He distinguishes Virtue Friendship as the perfect friendship, leaving Use Friendship and Pleasure friendship as deficient friendships. C.S. Lewis presents his view of friendship, which is motivated by appreciation love, in his book The Four Loves in a manner seeming to correspond to Aristotle’s concept of Virtue Friendship. Lewis also presents his perception of Companionship, which seems to correspond to Aristotle’s notion of Use and Pleasure Friendships. Lewis presents a more modern and seemingly accurate rehabilitation
To live without a friend is like barely existing, all alone, in the desolation of Siberia. However, with true friendship “two are greater than one,” as friends lift one another up and provide strength when they stumble (English Standard Version, Ecc. 4:9). Aristotle describes friendship as "a single soul dwelling in two bodies,” basically meaning, inseparable, friends will hold a everlasting bond (Laertius). With two parts forming a whole, true friendship challenges each another and works together as one. This friendship provides the ultimate test of love as the Bible proclaims that “a friend loves at all times” (Prov. 17:17). One example of this is the friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.
The modern water facilities provide a convenient way to get water, people using tap water every day, but really few people took tap water’s safety seriously. Group of people believes tap water is safe and able to drink directly. Most of the watering company claims that their water is safe to drink, the government also highly attended the water quality in the cities, so they think there is nothing should be worrying about. However, some people claim that tap water might be polluted, tap water should be reprocessed before drink. The quality of tap water is uneven around the world, using contaminated tap water would cause illness and diseases.
Since the beginning of public education, educators have been trying to figure out how they can create the finest most successful students by giving them the tools to succeed and ability to adapt to any situation in an exciting and engaging way. The answer has already been found and yet it is struggling to hold its place in the public school curriculum. The answer is music education. The way music education is viewed by other areas of academic interest effects how it is treated. To convince non-musicians of the importance of music education, they must learn what musicians already know. They must learn what music education is capable of doing for the education of students everywhere. Once what music education can do for every person’s career and ability to succeed in the world is made common knowledge, a change in priorities can be made and music education will be realized as an essential.
School music programs are evidenced to have positive effects on attendance and graduation rates. Many students look towards band, orchestra, or choir as the highlight of their school day, serving as an incentive ...
Water has been one of the essential factors in the development of human settlements. Especially with the increasing population of human and industry, the demands for the quantity of water are also increasing (Binnie et al., 2002). This has become a serious concerned as the high quality of water supply has been very limited due to the contamination of water with municipal, agricultural and industrial waste that has lead to a decreasing water quality. This lead to a water treatment process as public has become more aware on the water quality and it effects to health. Indeed, the water sources used for applying water were not always clean thus it need to be treated to improve smell, taste, clarity, or to remove disease-causing pathogens that can present in the water before it being treated treated. As mention by Smethurst (1988), there are four important steps in the water treatment process before the water sources is been distributed to the consumer namely, coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and lastly disinfection ( refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
The quality of water is the main source to all of the roles that water play in our lives. From the beauty of nature’s waterways connected with wildlife, to the important lives that clean rivers and streams support, to the important role that safe water plays in drinking water and health good water quality is basic to all the networks of life and livelihood that water supports. Water is the source of life on the planet earth, and human civilizations blossomed where there was reliable, compatible and clean freshwater. Use of water by humans for drinking, washing, cleaning and recreation requires water free from biological and physical sources of contamination. Plants, animals, and the habitats that support biological diversity also require clean water. Water of a certain good cheaper quality is needed in all scenarios of the world like to grow food, to power cities, and
Genuine friendship is rooted in virtue and common goals. As Graham Allan has commented on, when approaching the perception of friendship, we see our leading hitch is that there is an absence of firmly established and socially agreed standards for what makes a person a genuine friend. Depending on the settings, we may describe someone as a friend, or we may feel the label is not suitable. We may have a very slim understanding of what friendship requires. For instance, Bellah, taken from Aristotle, implies that there are three components to the customary idea of friendship: “Friends must enjoy each other’s company, they must have some usefulness for one another, and share a mutual vow to the good” (Bellah 115).
In today’s modern society, most students are usually not enthused by the idea of coming to school. However, if each and every one of those students were to be enrolled in a music education class, their perspective on school would most likely be swayed. Esteemed news article author, James Catterall, expressed his opinion on what would happen if music education were to be removed from schools’ prog...
A boyfriend and a girlfriend desire to be with each other. They love each other so much that they just want to be with each other as much as possible. This bond is also present in a good friendship because it has genuine love. Also, as friends they respect each other. They try to avoid causing conflicts. They don’t make fun of each other, but treat each other with respect.
McManaman, D. (n.d.). Aristotle and the Good Life. lifeissues.net. Retrieved March 15, 2014, from http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/mcm/ph/ph_01philosophyyouth14.html