Comparing Aristotle And Cicero's View Of Friendship

1351 Words3 Pages

I would define friendship as complete trust and love between two people. Many people believe that this kind of behavior is reciprocated between two individuals without any expectations. A friend is someone who also provides you with support and whom you can rely on to celebrate special moments with. A friend also comes with many great attributes; such as loyalty, honesty, compassion, trust, and morality. Today’s friend is viewed as someone who shares happiness, common values, history, and equality with another. For example, Aristotle and Cicero both wrote dialogues about friendship and its significance on mankind. Therefore, the key issues that will be discussed are: their views on the similarities of friendship, the differences between friends, …show more content…

Aristotle believed that friendship consists of three categories. The three categories are utility, pleasure and perfect friendship. Utility is considered to be temporary and changes depending on the situation. This type of friend is not an ideal one because he or she is only useful when the given situation benefits one or more persons in the friendships. When you are no longer able to render services the friendship ceases to exist. “Those who love for utility or pleasure, then, are fond of a friend because of what is good or pleasant for themselves, not insofar as the beloved is who he is, but insofar as he is useful or pleasant” (Nichomachean Ethics, VIII.3). Those engaged in this type of friendship seek only gain and profit. A friendship based on pleasure is the enjoyment of something. I believe pleasure is important but it cannot be the overall foundation of a true friendship. The relationship will end if pleasure is the only reason for friendship, especially when one no longer finds pleasure in an activity. For example, if I can no longer make you laugh then what am I good for? Can you actually call that type of person a genuine friend if all they are seeking is pleasure only? What about when there are hard times, and the pleasure no longer exists? Will the friendship still exist? According to Aristotle’s the perfect friendship …show more content…

Cicero believes all about the good in friendship whereas Aristotle believes friendship should be placed in categories. He also believes the old cliché that with friendship “you scratch my back, ill scratch yours.” I think that these two men are very knowledgeable on what friendship really is. Aristotle sounds like an opportunist to me. He would not be considered a loyal friend in my eyes and I would not scratch his back for a million bucks. Through both of their differences, you can clearly see who the “jerk” is, and who the sincere one is. You can see the “sharing out of the goodness of one’s heart” form of friendship as described by Cicero. Meanwhile, Aristotle claims that a friend gives only because he or she expects something in return. I refuse to allow myself or my views on friendship to be manipulated by Aristotle’s arrogance. Everyone in life deserves a friend that does not look for a reward. I personally like the saying “it’s better to have loved than to have never loved at all”. I believe that you should be someone’s friend whole heartedly and if you cannot be that person’s friend whole heartedly then don’t be their friend at all. There is a saying that I have formed from my own personal experience and it is “If you can’t exist in peace, don’t exist in pieces”. Although, some may not agree with Cicero and may even prefer Aristotle’s views that he has

Open Document