essence and relevance of friendship
In book 8 of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle attempts to explore the essence and relevance of friendship. He begins by describing the importance of friendship, defining it as a virtue and a necessity of life. According to Aristotle, no one can choose to live without friends, even after having all other possessions in life (Aristotle, 2006). He describes how there is no relevance of justice among friends. Even though people need friendships; hence, true friendship can be described as justice in the fullest sense.
According to Aristotle, there are different varieties of friendship as associated with pleasant, good, and convenience. Other than for an individual’s good people can be liked for their usefulness or for the pleasure they can come with. He also stresses on the fact that in cases where individuals are only liked for the pleasure or convenience that they bring, they are hardly loved for who they are in their nature (Aristotle, 2006). These, according to Aristotle, are accidental friendships and are only initiated on the grounds that they provide pleasure or benefit. These kinds of friendships are also not firmly rooted and can easily be dissolved as long as the pleasure or usefulness is not needed.
Perfect friendships, however, occur between two individuals who are the same in their goodness. Individuals with a desire for good for their friends can be described as true friends. In such a case, the friends tend to last as long as the individuals remain to be good. When an individual desires what is good for their friend, it is in accordance with the individual’s moral state since mutual affection is defined by choice, which also stems from a moral state. Friend, therefore, in its most genuine sense can only occur between good individuals such that when a good individual becomes a friend, he can be described as the friend’s good.
Beneficence can be defined as a practice of charity and kindness with a motive of doing good to other people. Aristotle also demonstrates the relevance of beneficence in friendship, stating that friendship is defined more by giving than receiving affection as showcased by a mother’s love for her child. It depends more on loving than being loved; hence love is the distinctive virtue that defines genuine friends. He also stresses that when love is offered according to merit, the friendship is deeply rooted and as a result, endures. This explains why true friendship can be seen between two or more unequal parties since the friendship is compensated as a result of the love that is offered in accordance with merit.
Despite the relevance of beneficence on friendship, Aristotle stresses on the fact that friendship is based on equal treatment. A good friend, therefore, must not only observe high standards for himself but also from his friend. For example, a good person doesn’t allow themselves to go wrong hence should not allow their friend to go wrong either. A bad person, on the other hand, tends to have short-lived friendships that are founded on enjoying each pother’s ways which are not good (Aristotle, 2006). Friendships founded on pleasure and each pother’s usefulness despite having the potential of an extended lifespan will only last for as long as they produce convenience and pleasure. Such friendships in society mainly occur between unequal people, for example, the rich and poor, the attractive and unattractive, and the educated and the ignorant. In summary, Aristotle stresses on the relationship between good and genuine friendship. True friendship is not founded on the basis of usefulness and pleasure but instead on the individual’s desire for good for their friend.