It will deal with problems of egoism, raised by kant and kierkegaard in opposition to aristotles high praise of friendships. Types of friendships in aristotles nicomachean ethics books 8. Aristotle s affirmative treatment accomplishes much, and fails to accomplish even more. The approximately 30 works through which his thought was conveyed to later centuries consist of lecture notes by aristotle or his students and draft manuscripts edited by ancient scholars, notably andronicus of rhodes, the last head of the lyceum. Aristotles philosophy of friendship still matters today. Although it is a bit unclear how to understand these distinctions, the basic idea seems to be that pleasure, utility, and virtue are the. In this essay i will outline aristotles stance about friendship, show both the pros and cons of his arguments and share my personal beliefs on the subject. Jul 25, 2019 friendship played a central role in ancient ethics and political philosophy.
See also sterngillet, aristotles philosophy of friend ship, chapter 6. Aristotle meant by friendship, what kind of friendships exist, and how we go about acquiring the highest type of friendship. Plato and aristotle both give an important place to friendship in the good life. Plato and aristotle on friendship pdf free download. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship perspectives. May 01, 2018 aristotle always put special importance on the concept of friendship. Aristotles ethics stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Lorraine smith pangle seeks the reason for and the meaning of friendship s privileged position within aristotle s ethical explorations. Aristotles discussion of friendships of pleasure and utility already implies a clear answer about how to prevent true friendship from arising between you and your spouse. It is possible to read annass summary of aristotles view of friendship this way 1988, 1. Although it is a bit unclear how to understand these distinctions, the.
Only one of them can turn into a truly great relationship. Aristotle rejoiced in the fact that the cosmos was far greater. The book gives central place to aristotle s examination of friendship in the nicomachean ethics. Aristotles theory is a reaction to those of his predecessors. Nicomachean ethics5 good judge of that subject, and the man who has received an allround education is a good judge in general. In philosophical discussions of friendship, it is common to follow aristotle nicomachean ethics, book viii in distinguishing three kinds of friendship.
Aristotles natural philosophy waseda university, sils, introduction to history and philosophy of science le201, history and philosophy of sciencearistotle. Think of a business or work relationship, for example. Aristotle on love and friendship 210 about feelings but looks exclusively to intention,3 an intention which, moreover, has as its object the wellbeing of the other. Friendship played a central role in ancient ethics and political philosophy. Hence a young man is not a proper hearer of lectures on political science. Taken together, these two points allow aristotle to escape, i think, the postmodern paradoxes about the possibility of altruism posed, for example, by jacques derrida. Yet, until recently, commentators have largely departed from aristotles lead in the matter, choosing instead to concentrate on what they must. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship by lorraine smith.
The book gives central place to aristotles examination of friendship in the nicomachean ethics. Love and friendship in plato and aristotle oxford scholarship. His works cover a number of topics from politics, philosophy, metaphysics, logic, ethics, biology and more. According to aristotle, there are three types of friendships. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship kindle edition. For aristotle, however, the highest kind of friendship was one of virtue. Arthur madigan suzanne sterngillet is professor of philosophy at the bolton institute of higher education, england. Aristotles metaphysics closely related to these matters is the second major topic, causality before summarizing aristotles version of causality, however, some questions suggesting educational implications of act and potency and essence and accident, to be considered in the second section of the paper, will be. Aristotle s philosophy of friendship download aristotle s philosophy of friendship ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. It is probing and gets beneath the surface of what aristotle says. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship perspectives on.
Aristotles affirmative treatment accomplishes much, and fails to accomplish even more. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship lorraine smith pangle university of toronto iii. Pdf on feb 5, 2018, deeksha napa and others published aristotle on. Aristotle and kant on selfdisclosure in friendship 227 moralia gives the most clear and concise treatment of the argument. Jun 01, 2016 aristotles discussion of friendships of pleasure and utility already implies a clear answer about how to prevent true friendship from arising between you and your spouse. Aristotle addresses these questions on friendship in books 8 and 9 of his nicomachean ethics. For instance, with respect to the passion of fear, if the soul is disposed to feel an excess of fear it can lead to an act of cowardice, whereas to feel a deficiency of fear can lead to an act of recklessness. In the magna moralia, aristotle summarizes the argument as follows. Aristotle always put special importance on the concept of friendship. That is, an honest person is one that has developed the habit of bringing forward to the other all those details of his or her life that seem relevant in conversation with the other.
The idea is that although persons are separate, their lives need not be. Philosophers from the ancient greeks on have traditionally. The mistake of modern philosophy was to divorce intelligibility from mystery. The disposition in question is a tendency that has been cultivated over time.
Its methodology must match its subject mattergood actionand must respect the fact that in this field many generalizations hold only for the most part. Aristotle makes the argument that friends can be regarded as second selves. The book gives central place to aristotles searching examination of friendship in the nicomachean ethics. Besides friendship, aristotles larger corpus of works contain some of the first writings on physics, biology, and other natural sciences, as well as more conventionally philosophic works on ethics, politics and metaphysics. Perfect friendship in aristotle oxford scholarship. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship lorraine smith. Nicomachean ethics aristotle faculty of social sciences. This is the first book to offer a comprehensive account of the major philosophical works on friendship and its relationship to selflove. Aristotle, true friendship, and the soulmate view of. Aristotles view on friendship is much more enlightened and expansive than this. Dec 05, 2017 aristotle observed that these relationships of utility were most common among older people.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Reviewed by gabriel richardson lear, university of chicago from an aristotelian point of view it is tempting to think that friendship can show us something important about moral virtue since it is in this context that. Best quotes about friendship from the greatest thinkers. The contemplative life, on the other hand, even if it requires a community to nurture and train the wise before they have. We study ethics in order to improve our lives, and therefore its principal concern is the nature of.
Aristotle, friendship, ethics, nicomachean, for his own sake, beneficiary. This is a handout developed for my students as they study aristotles nicomachean ethics books 89, focused specifically on the types of friendship. Moreover, the two books on friendship viii and ix hold the penultimate position, coming right before book xs concluding assertion of the superiority of the philosophic life. He was a greek philosopher and is often referred to as the first teacher or the very first true scientist. Aristotles discussion of the political form of friendship is particularly interesting because it provides a natural bridge between the ethics and the politics.
Ptatos negative treatment does not accomplish much, but fails even less. The book gives central place to aristotle s searching examination of friendship in the nicomachean ethics. This is a handout developed for my students as they study aristotle s nicomachean ethics books 89, focused specifically on the types of friendship. Aristotle observed that these relationships of utility were most common among older people. Aristotle was the tutor of alexander the great and. Aristotles guiding thought on friendship is, thus, that two friends admiration of one another is driven by shared values and a shared vision of how to live. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship kindle edition by pangle, lorraine smith. Lorraine pangle argues that the difficulties surrounding this discussion are soon dispelled once one understands the purpose of the ethics as both a source of practical guidance for life and a profound, theoretical investigation into human. Aristotle addresses the topic of friendship in book 8 and 9 of his nicomachean ethics. Mar 30, 2020 aristotle wrote as many as 200 treatises and other works covering all areas of philosophy and science. Aristotles second kind of accidental friendship is based in pleasure. Comparison and evaluation what are we to make of the friendship rationalization by the two great prototype figures of western philosophy. Aristotle of stagira a short biography of aristotle.
In the first type, friendship based on utility, people associate for their mutual usefulness. The author approaches aristotle critically, but with the expectation of finding in aristotle something philosophically interesting, illuminating, viable. The following are quotes on the topic from some of the most notable thinkers from ancient greece and italy. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship lorraine smith pangle. Lorraine smith pangle seeks the reason for and the meaning of friendships privileged position within aristotles ethical explorations. He also said youll run into three different types of friendship. Click download or read online button to aristotle s philosophy of friendship book pdf for free now.
His writings cover many subjects including physics, biology. Aristotle aka aristoteles nikomakhou kai phaistidos stageirites 384 322 b. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship by lorraine. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship lorraine. Aristotle sets out a number of conditions essential to friendship in any full sense of the term, and we go through each of them, examining what these criteria are, how they function, and what. If, then, when one looked upon a friend one could see the nature and attributes of the friend. In philosophical discussions of friendship, it is common to follow. He writes about it as a valuable possession and a path to a good life. Pdf aristotle handout the three types of friendship. The topic of friendship figures prominently in aristotles ethical writings. For aristotle, he schematically divides the grounds of friendship into three. The ability to discern that which is relevant is part of honesty and is, if course. Aristotle on friendship outline of book viii of the nicomachean ethics.
The contemplative life, on the other hand, even if it requires a community to nurture and. Taught by plato, he was the founder of the lyceum, the peripatetic school of philosophy, and the aristotelian tradition. This book fully explores for the first time an idea common to plato and aristotle, which unites their treatmentsotherwise very differentof love and friendship. Things like making mental lists of the ways in which your spouse has failed to do her or. From kant to john rawls, all philosophers have discussed the issue with aristotle on the good life and on happiness to summarize, aristotle raises the question of virtue.
Aristotle wrote as many as 200 treatises and other works covering all areas of philosophy and science. Aristotle and the philosophy of friendship lorraine smith pangle download bok. You may enjoy the time you spend together, but once the situation changes, so does the nature of your connection. One persons life may overflow into anothers, and as such, helping another person is a way of serving oneself. The nicomachean ethics by aristotle is the most influential book of the moral philosophy. Download pdf aristotle s philosophy of friendship free.
However, in this concept, it is quite unexplained and unclear what is going on as there is a shift from the familiar loving someone for his sake to a newly infected loving someone for his sake. Pdf aristotle and philosophy of frienship reza ghafari. Pdf aristotle handout the three types of friendship gregory. Aristotle conceives of ethical theory as a field distinct from the theoretical sciences. Jun 21, 20 aristotle sets out a number of conditions essential to friendship in any full sense of the term, and we go through each of them, examining what these criteria are, how they function, and what. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading aristotle and the philosophy of friendship.
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