Aristotles View of Friendship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aristotles View of Friendship - Essay Example A rich man would need friends to bestow some of his riches on them. According to Aristotle, it is friends who would safeguard his riches. And for the poor man, or the man in trouble, it is only friends who are his refuge. Friendship helps the elderly because friends help them when they are weak and in need. Similarly, young people also benefit by friendship as friends advise them and keep them from following wrong ways. Talking about justice and friendship, Aristotle says that there is no need of justice between friends, and the just need friends too. Although philosophers differed on where friendship grows- whether between similar people or between opposites, Aristotle is not bothered by it. According to him just feeling goodwill towards another, which is not reciprocated, is not friendship, but goodwill. He categorizes friendship in three different kinds. Friendship blossoms where the other person is lovable. According to Aristotle, everything is not lovable but only the good, pleasant and the useful. Thus, in friendship too, there is love when the person is good, or pleasant or useful. Aristotle argues that since usefulness changes with time, the friendship cultivated for the sake of usefulness would soon dissolve. Similarly, friendship which grows because it is pleasant is also not permanent. Aristotle defines perfect friendship as that which exists between men who are both good and have the sa