Aristotle on Friendship We are social creatures. We surround ourselves with other human beings‚ our friends. It is in our nature. We are constantly trying to broaden the circumference of our circle of friends. Aristotle understood the importance of friendship‚ books VIII and IX of the Nicomachean Ethics deal solely with this topic. A modern day definition of a friend can be defined as �one joined to another in intimacy and mutual benevolence independently of sexual or family love�. (Oxford
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Nehemas & Aristotle For Nehemas‚ friendship is a moral state where one treats a specific group of people with preference. Where one neglects neglecting moral value in order to give those specific people that specific treatment. The values of friendship distinguish us from each other and make us different in the sense that opposites attract or it makes us interesting to each other. He says that there are different types of friends. Casual‚ close and in between. The close friends are very special
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alive and not just existing. Aristotle believes that a person should work hard doing what they love‚ they also shouldn’t devote their lives to acquiring riches since riches don’t provide happiness. One should also reject fame and public success to become happy as self sufficiency is believed to provide happiness. Happiness is a process starting from infancy. A happy life is a life where spiritual‚ physical and social needs are met under reason and moderation. I think Aristotle recipe of happiness involves
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Plato vs. Aristotle Plato and Aristotle‚ two philosophers in the 4th century‚ hold polar views on politics and philosophy in general. This fact is very cleverly illustrated by Raphael’s "School of Athens" (1510-11; Stanza della Segnatura‚ Vatican)‚ where Plato is portrayed looking up to the higher forms; and Aristotle is pointing down because he supports the natural sciences. In a discussion of politics‚ the stand point of each philosopher becomes an essential factor. It is not coincidental
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serve to discover the generalities of human thought. Without Aristotle‚ the concept of metaphysics would cease to exist. Taking this into consideration‚ it is evident that Aristotle plays a major part in the study of metaphysics and how we know it today. Therefore‚ he formulated the basic entities of metaphysics and constructed its foundation through his own philosophies. Also‚ after reviewing material presented by Socrates and Plato‚ Aristotle is able to develop an understanding of causes and substance
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Aristotle On Friendship Philosophical Ethics December 6‚ 1995 Friendship is undoubtedly one of the most important elements in the books of Aristotle’s ethical principles. Aristotle takes the idea of friendship to a serious degree. He categorizes them into three groups or types of friendships. This report will attempt to define each type of friendship as well as identify the role of friendship in a society. Aristotle considers friendship to be a necessity to live. He
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Philosophies of Aristotle and Plato Plato and Aristotle both have been very influential as the ancient Greek philosophers. Aristotle was a student of Plato and there are many similarities between these intellectual giants of the ancient world but there are also many things that distinguish them from each other. Aristotle was far more empirical-minded than Plato. First‚ Plato’s philosophy relegated the material‚ physical world to a sort of metaphysical second class. His contention was that the
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Aristotle defines virtue in terms of a mean or median. On one end is the excess and on the other the deficiency with the median found somewhere between the two. A sizeable portion of the book is dedicated to discussing these virtues and their excess and deficiency as well as the sphere the virtue falls under. While a majority of the virtues have vices on either side and are found through trial and error somewhere between them‚ the virtue of temperance does not have this quality and is therefore more
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According to Aristotle‚ the highest virtue of man is reason. He believes reason is what separates us from other living beings. Without reason‚ we would be no different than animals living on instinct. To understand exactly what he means‚ we must understand how Aristotle defines virtue. Virtue‚ according to Aristotle‚ is the excellence of function. Everything has a specific function and performing that function with excellence leads to having virtue. He believes the unique human function is
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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
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