Aristotle and Friendship

Aristotle and Friendship

According to Aristotle, there are three kinds of friendship based on three kinds of love that unite people. Aristotle defines friendship through the word, philia. Philia is the emotional bond between human beings which provides the basis for all forms of social organizations, common effort, and personal relationships between people. The three kinds of friendship Aristotle explains are utility, pleasure, and complete friendship.

Friendship based on mutual utility is the kind of friendship that tends to be short-lived, coincidental, easily formed, and is easily dissolved when the abilities or needs of both people change. There is no affectionate feeling in this friendship. The individuals involved in this type of friendship are only interested in what they can do for themselves or they can gain from each other. For example, one person might pay another to teach them how to surf, one benefits from learning while the other benefits financially. This kind of friendship only lasts as long as the utility.

Friendship based on mutual pleasure is the kind of friendship that tends to be coincidental, easily formed and easily dissolved and is most commonly found in relationships of young people and social relationships. There is no respect or affection found in this type of friendship. An example could be, a guy using a girl to take out on the weekends, but after the weekend is over never talking to or seeing her until he is ready to go out again. This type of friendship starts when two people discover they have a common interest in activity that they can share together. Another example would be, two people who enjoy playing basketball can gain pleasure from playing together. This type of friendship only lasts as long as the pleasure.

This friendship is commonly seen among young people because their relationships are guided by their feelings. As they grow up, the pleasure changes and so does their relationships. Since they are quick to become friends, they are quick to stop. Young people are easily fooled by erotic passion. This is why they love and quickly stop.

Complete or virtuous friendship is the kind of friendship that contains affection based on respect. It is enduring, but rare. This type of friendship is not easily dissolved even if a problem was to arise. According to Aristotle, this is the highest level of friendship. Equality