aristotle on friendship 384 bce — 322 bceseschmid.org/lsf/lsf_aristotle_4up.pdfstephen e. schmid...

Stephen E. Schmid

UW-Rock County Philosophy of Love, Sex, and Friendship

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Aristotle on Friendship

384 BCE — 322 BCE

Stephen E. Schmid


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• Ethics is grounded in human nature

• The aim of human action is happiness--i.e., the "end of things pursued in action"

• Happiness is an activity of humans and expresses our supreme human good

Aristotle's Virtue Ethics

Stephen E. Schmid


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Outside the Ethical Theory Boundaries

• One of the problems with Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics is that each addresses how one ought to act in certain cases, but leaves open questions about how one ought to act in many other cases

• The question in ethics is, “How ought one to live one’s life?”

• Utilitarianism, Kant, and other ethical theories can be understood to be Theories of Right, where it is the principles of obligation (and prohibition) that determine one’s actions

• A Theory of the Good is concerned with describing the good life

Stephen E. Schmid


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Living The Good Life• Theory of the Good is concerned with living the good life

• Eudaimonia – eu (well being/good) & daimon (spirit, referring to one’s fortune or lot in life)

• Living the good life is not concerned only with one’s obligations and duties

• “Be good” is not the same thing as “Do the right thing” or “Follow this rule”

• Imagine one who did the right thing but lived a secluded life, monotonously pursuing the same task every day, and spends all one’s time playing video games.

• Might one convincingly say of this person that s/he leads a good life?

Stephen E. Schmid


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What Is Human Nature?

• Aristotle thinks human nature is what all humans have in common and what all humans have in common is the desire to seek happiness

• What feature of humans is distinctly human and aids them in seeking their happiness?

• Aristotle thinks this distinctly human capacity is rationality and the capacity for abstract thinking

• Thus, the good life for humans is one in which rational capacities are developed and exercised to their fullest and in so doing humans achieve the best sort of happiness possible for them

• Theoretical reasoning is superior to practical reasoning

Stephen E. Schmid


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• Aristotle thinks a good human being is rational and that rationality is good for humans

• Aristotle also thinks that good people will display certain traits in dealings with other human beings

• One can see these virtues as necessary conditions for human flourishing and well-being

• To understand moral rules and ethics, we must understand what makes someone a virtuous person

What Makes a Virtuous Human Being?

Stephen E. Schmid


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• One pursues the virtues because they are good in themselves

• One also pursues the virtues for the sake of happiness

• One supposes that in being virtuous one will be happy

• Friendship is a virtue that is essential to the virtuous life

Virtues Lead to Happiness

Stephen E. Schmid


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What Are the Virtues?(a very short list)

Compassion Dependability BenevolenceCooperativeness Honesty ReasonablenessCourage Generosity Tolerance

Fairness Friendliness Thoughtfulness

Self-discipline Patience Loyalty

Civility Moderation Self-reliance

Stephen E. Schmid


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• In Greek, the word for friendship, philia, means more than just close or social relationships

• Term includes mutual attractions between two human beings and the desire to cooperate in shared activities including everything from business relationships to close, personal relationships

• So, friendship is to include everything from family to business associates

Friendship

Stephen E. Schmid


Friends Bear Goodwill

• Before determining the types of friends, Aristotle considers what type of affection friends must have in order to be friends

• He argues that there are ways one loves things;

1. as inanimate objects (which is not what friendship is)

2. as a desire for what is good for its own sake for that person

3. as a reciprocal desire for what is good (friendship)

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Stephen E. Schmid


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• Friendships based on utility: based on what you can get out of the other person and how much you must give for it

• Friendships based on pleasure: enjoyment of a person's wit, pleasant company

• Friendships based on utility and pleasure are incomplete friendships, based on accidental conditions and feelings

• Friendships of good people: people who "wish goods to each other for each other's own sake"

• Friendships of good people are complete friendships

Types of Friendships

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Friendships of Utility & Pleasure

• Friendships of Utility and Pleasure are not lasting friendships

• They are easily dissolved

• They are always changing

• They are guided by fleeting emotions and surface appearance

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Stephen E. Schmid


Friendships of Good People

• “Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in virtue; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves.”

• Good friends are

• Good without qualification to oneself and the friend

• Pleasant to each other (since the good is pleasant)

• Share similar virtues

• Developed through shared challenges

• Rare

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Copy Cats

• Aristotle thinks that Friendships of Utility and Pleasure share many of the same characteristics of a Perfect Friendship

• But, these friendships differ from a Perfect Friendship because the delight one receives from a friend of Utility or Pleasure depends on what one receives in return from that person

• In Friendships of Utility and Pleasure, what one gets in return from the other determines how and in what respect on delights in the other’s achievements

• The pleasure in the other is not unconditional

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Stephen E. Schmid


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• Complete friendships are friendships of virtue and are necessary for virtuous living

• What constitutes a friendship between two people?

1. A wishes and acts virtuously toward B, for B's sake

2. A wishes B to live and to exist, for B's sake

3. A spends time with B

4. A makes similar choices as B, not divided

5. A shares B's ups and downs

Friendship Necessary for the Good Life

Stephen E. Schmid


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• The five characteristics of a friendship reflect one's relationship to oneself

1. One wishes to flourish and do well

2. One desires one's own survival

3. One spends time with oneself

4. One is in control of one's own decisions, not divided

5. One consistently finds pleasures and pains in certain things which reflects one's virtuous dispositions

Friendship Reflects One's Relations to Oneself

Stephen E. Schmid


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• Aristotle thinks friendship with others is similar to friendship with oneself

• Is Aristotle advocating egoism? Aren't friendships other-directed?

• Aristotle does not think self-love should be seen as a form of egoism and distinguishes between good and bad forms of self-love

• Good forms of self-love result from a "life guided by reason" and a "desire for what is fine"

• Both these characteristics rule out feelings and utility and thus rule out the two types of incidental friendships

Friendship and the Self

Stephen E. Schmid


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• The self-love Aristotle endorses is appropriate for complete friendships where one wishes "goods to each other for each other's own sake"

• One treats one's friends as extensions of themselves

• A friend's welfare is just as important as one's own welfare

• One acts for one's own and one's friend's sake

• Aristotle thinks only the virtuous person will be able to consistently identify one's own welfare with a friend's and act in accordance with this

Friendship and the Self

Stephen E. Schmid


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• In a complete friendship, virtue guides and directs one's actions towards one's friends

• But, does the virtuous person need friends?

• Aristotle thinks the virtuous person needs friends for the simple reason that friendship is part of human nature and having friends seems to be one of the greatest external goods

• More importantly, good friends positively influence one's character and the development of that character

Friendship and the Good Life

Stephen E. Schmid


Friendship and Justice

• Friendship and justice have many of the same characteristics

• Reciprocity and equality

• Justice tends to right unequal relationships

• Aristotle observes that injustices between friends tends to be condemned more than injustices between non-friends

• Friends, in virtue of the friendship, are supposed to care about the other’s well-being and seek goodwill for the other

• Injustices among friends violates the foundations of the friendship

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Stephen E. Schmid


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• Aristotle thinks that because of human nature one cannot be happy without friends

• We have a natural tendency due to human nature to be with people

1. Whatever is an essential part of the structure of human existence is necessary for attaining the good life

2. Having and participating in relationships is an essential part of the structure of human existence

3. Therefore, having friends is necessary for attaining the good life

Friends are Essential to Happiness

aristotle on friendship 384 bce — 322 bceseschmid.org/lsf/lsf_aristotle_4up.pdfstephen e. schmid...

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