The analysis of friendship as a life concept and universal phenomenon is evident in Aristotle’s The Nicomachean Ethics. According to the philosopher, for one to declare another his or her friend, they have to meet certain conditions. For illustration purposes, one can consider the love of famous musicians that an individual may choose to monitor via different social media platforms. The decision to like them on Facebook or to follow them on Twitter does not mean that the fan and the famous person are friends. On the contrary, in Aristotle’s views, such a situation does not even come near to the understanding of friendship simply because both the love and admiration are one sided. Hence, when persons reciprocate the desire to know each other and deliberately want the best for one another, then friendship is plausible. Thus said, while discrediting pleasure and utility-based understandings, Aristotle makes a compelling argument in his assertions that the goodness of character creates the ideal friendships.
The foundations on which Aristotle places his perceptions as documented in The Nicomachean Ethics originate from Book VIII of the text. According to the author, not all relationships in which people claim to be friends are legit and without the right reasons, the collapse of such relations becomes inevitable. To that end, when people become friends out of the “goodness” of their character, they exhibit a balance of interests because they are “eager to benefit each other” (Aristotle 223). In other words, seeking a companionship without any hidden agendas would sustain the resulting relationship only because nobody takes advantage of another person. For instance, when one purchases and listens to music because it soothes his or her soul, the interests attain balance. After all, the fact that a musician records his or her song and puts it up for sale means that he or she wanted people to buy the same. Concurrently, if another person chooses to purchase the song and draws some comfort from it, then he or she gains his or her money’s worth. In that sense, some mutual benefit sees both sides content with what the other does. The soothing music remains in the possession of the buyer, and the money from the sales of an artist's music continues to be his or hers to use. Similarly, an exceptional or noble form of friendship means that nobody takes advantage of the other. There are no ill motives behind an existing relationship, and if there are any rewards to the same, they will not involve any compromises. For the give reasons, the chances of such a relationship prevailing are higher.
Contrastingly, those who become friends for pleasurable purposes and the ones who seek helpful people to befriend make up the unstable friendships in Aristotle’s writing. In the philosopher’s words, an association based on the profits and pleasures people get from one another “break[s] up when the reasons for which the friends loved each other no longer present themselves (Aristotle 228). After all, each side sought something distinct from the other and in that sense, enjoyed the pleasure or profit they attained and not the person. Again on the music, when people pirate the album of a famous musician they do so because the music benefits them somehow. For instance, one could make the album available on his or her website to increase the number of visitors and boost his or her ratings through the same. Meanwhile, when the idea of being the fan of one or more musicians is pleasurable or when a particular song is only ideal during a given period, then both the musician and the song will eventually lose their meaning. For illustration purposes, one could imagine going through a breakup and deciding to listen to sad lyrics. At that point, the song is pleasurable and as a result, there is no guarantee that it would remain relevant without the presence of heartbreak. Subsequently, being a fan for pleasure means that the devotion would run out as soon as the recipient loses his or her appeal. In concurrence, Aristotle uses the example of a couple that stays together because one finds pleasure in looking at the other’s beautiful appearance and the other stays because the attention brings him or her joy (206). Once the beauty fades, the friendship could fail because both of them lose that which kept them together in the first place.
With the given facts in mind, the goodness of a good man or woman’s life requires intimate friendships with genuine people because whether rich or poor everyone needs friends. To aid in the determination of real friendship as opposed to the unstable forms of companionship, Plato advocated the pursuit of wisdom as a virtue before everything else (Reeve 5). While writing of Socrates’ approach to the question of friendship, Plato points out that “love is a desire” that is empty, and wisdom suffices as the ideal trait (Reeve 2). The man’s views stem from his encounter with a man who, while trying to start a relationship, lavishes another man with multiple praises about his person. However, as Socrates points out, such an approach is wrong because they are yet to start a relationship. In other words, at the beginning of new relations, a man or woman in love would be better off if he or she keeps any praises to him or herself lest the recipient refuses and makes a fool out of them or accepts and assumes a dominant role. Just as in the case of friendship that Aristotle recommends, a goodness of character is vital for the long-lasting fellowship and as Plato insists, wisdom is the only way of ensuring the same.
In conclusion, Aristotle’s perceptions of friendship advocate a righteous virtue based on knowledge and in turn, convinces his readers on the importance of both qualities in relationships. When one is noble, he or she seeks out a companion without malice or the need to take advantage of the other person. Finally, he or she has to be wise while doing so because any false move would result in a worthless friendship that benefits one side at the expense of the other. With the right goals and means of attaining a good friendship, it is possible to meet the criteria that Aristotle sets in The Nicomachean Ethics.
Works Cited
Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics. Ed. Hugh Tredennick. Trans. J. A. K. Thomson. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003. Printer.
Reeve, C. D. C. "Plato on Friendship and Eros." 17 February 2011. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 20 March 2016.
