Aristotle's Theory of Friendship

Dissertation, Harvard University (1988)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This thesis is an investigation of Aristotle's theory of friendship, as found in books VIII and IX of the Nicomachean Ethics. It has two major concerns: first, Aristotle's theory of goodness; second, Aristotle's view of the relationship between self-love and love of another. Aristotle's theory of goodness is important, because friendship consists of love, and love is always on account of some good. Thus, Aristotle's distinctions among various goods underlie his theory of the various sorts of friendships and their nature. Aristotle's views on the relationship between self-love and friendship are examined to discover a theory different from contemporary theories of morality, which are vexed by the problem of the relationship between egoism and altruism. The first chapter examines the Platonic background of Aristotle's theory of friendship. The Lysis is given special attention, and then Aristotle's criticism of the Platonic theory of the good in EN I.6 is examined as giving us Aristotle's positive theory of goodness. This positive theory is used in the second chapter to understand Aristotle's division of friendship into three forms. It is argued that, according to Aristotle, just as being varies categorically, so goodness varies categorically; thus love and friendship also vary categorically. The third chapter examines Aristotle's thesis that friendship 'comes from' self-love. It is claimed that this is intended to show that self-love is social, not that sociability is selfish. Aristotle's saying that a 'friend is another self' is interpreted as a qualified metaphor based on an unanalyzeable analogy. It is claimed that Aristotle's understanding of analogy enables him to take a position on the relationship between self-love and love of another unavailable to moderns. The final chapter attempts an interpretation of the difficult argument in EN IX.9, 1170b13ff. It is argued that Aristotle is trying to explain how a person's own life is good for him and pleasant to him, and that Aristotle is claiming that this is how a friend is good for and pleasant to a good person.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

  • This entry has no external links. Add one.
Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Friendship and Self-Love in Aristotle's Ethics.David Harris Calhoun - 1989 - Dissertation, Northwestern University
Love and friendship in Plato and Aristotle.A. W. Price - 1989 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Other Selves.Efren A. Alverio - 2010 - Kritike 4 (1):199-218.
Friendship and politics in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.Ann Ward - 2011 - European Journal of Political Theory 10 (4):443-462.
Aristotelian Love Counseling.Chun-yu Chen - 2007 - Philosophy and Culture 34 (12):137-152.
Aristotle and Kant on self-disclosure in friendship.Andrea Veltman - 2004 - Journal of Value Inquiry 38 (2):225-239.
Aristotle on Self-Knowledge and Friendship.Zena Hitz - 2011 - Philosophers' Imprint 11:1-28.
Confucius and Aristotle on the goods of friendship.Eric C. Mullis - 2010 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 9 (4):391-405.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-02-02

Downloads
3 (#1,514,380)

6 months
1 (#1,028,709)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Michael Pakaluk
Harvard University

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references