Aristotle On Friendship And Aristotle's Three Types Of Friendship

Friendships is a distinctively personal relationship that is grounded in a concern on the role of each individual for the benefit of the other, for other’s sake, which involves some degree of intimacy. Aristotle evaluates the question of whether friendships should or should not be broken off when the other individual changes a sense of personality. Friendship is impossible when there is too great a gap between people and often two friends will grow apart if one becomes more virtuous than the other. However, Aristotle describes in the Nicomachean Ethics three ideas to maintain a friendship. Aristotle says friendships should be useful, receive goodness, and make of itself pleasant for a virtuous life. One of the three types of friendship

One person spends time with another. They get along after discovering their similar wits and characteristics they may share. If ten years pass by, dependent upon these two people will decide if they should remain in each other’s lives. Once again, one individual may become more virtuous than the other. After both individual stumble upon an argument that they feel will jeopardize their friendship, most people think it is part of the friendship, which still is for some people. It has to be one person who is willing to keep this pleasant relationship. If one individual becomes that successful businessperson, while his friend becomes some drug dealer and throws away his life through his/her choices, it is impossible for the successful businessperson to love his friend, while the other friend is dealing drugs and continuing his/her lack of free will. A man cannot love someone who engages wrongdoing. Many human beings need a positive impact upon another person. Nancy Sherman also says that “friends may be instruments and tools in the sense in which money and political connection are. They provide us with the means for the promotion of particular ends. Thus, we depend upon the aid and support of friends for accomplishing ends we cannot realize on our own.” If one simply does not find pleasure in friendship any longer, this person should remember the intimacy he/she had with their former comrade, never persecuting against another former comrade and seeing them as enemies. Thus, cherishing a friendship becomes virtuous, for the sake of goodness, pleasure, and becoming