Genuine Friendship Essay

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, taking from Aristotle, imply 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 modern-day western societies,

He differentiates between genuine friendships and then two other forms based on pleasure, and common usefulness. Genuine friendship is something that will not dissolve, whereas the two other forms needs utility and pleasure to be involved in order to last. A genuine friendship takes place amongst two good men, “each wishes good for each other, and is also good themselves”. Aristotle continues to say, “And it is those who wish the good of their friends for the friends’ sake that are most truly friends, because each loves the other for what he is, and not for any incidental quality” (Aristotle 1976: 263). Genuine friendship is a type of virtue, or involves virtue, and it is very essential for a good life. Nobody would choose to have a life without friends, even if they had all the additional good things. There are, however, a few different opinions about friendship. Some believe friendship is a matter of likeness, that our friends resemble ourselves. Others take the opposing view that friendship is based on utility. The problem with friendship based on utility is it is a temporary thing. It changes according to the settings or circumstances. So with the ground for the friendship no longer there, the friendship also falls apart, because the ground is what kept the friendship going. Friendships based on utility mostly occur among people who are pursing their own benefit. Sometimes they do not like

He is vindicating his conception of happiness as virtuous activity by showing how satisfying are the relationships that a virtuous person can normally expect to have. Cicero, in his book, “On Friendship”, had a lot to say about the different aspects of friendship in his time, but how would he view modern friendship? Some friendships Cicero may not be proud of; like the common relationships that are forced on in a classroom or work place and the lack of allowing nature to take control and make the friendships that are meant to happen. However, Cicero would be happy with the way the higher level friendships have developed in virtue. He brings up the nature of human beings a lot in his text because people take advantage of other people and he knew that. “Friendship is not something we are led to by the expectation of making a profit; we think it worth seeking because the whole enjoyment of it consists in the love itself (Cicero, 12)”. Human nature is what makes people want to have friendships. This is one of the main things that Cicero continuously touched on in his book. “Friendship arises from nature as such, rather than from some neediness: from application of the mind, along with a kind of love, rather than from thinking about how much advantage