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Single Idea 21093
[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 4. External Goods / d. Friendship
]
Full Idea
A man who is only susceptible of friendship, without public spirit or a regard to the community, is deficient in the most material part of virtue.
Gist of Idea
Friendship without community spirit misses out on the main part of virtue
Source
David Hume (That Politics may be reduced to a Science [1750], p.21)
Book Ref
Hume,David: 'Selected Essays' [OUP 1996], p.21
A Reaction
I think this is aimed at the epicureans. If the highest virtues are focused on one's friends that can easily lead to injustice, because it can tolerate prejudice against people who are very unlike one's friends.
The
21 ideas
with the same theme
[close personal relationships as a virtue]:
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294
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People say that friendship exists only between good men
[Plato]
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156
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Bad people are never really friends with one another
[Plato]
|
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3027
|
Cyrenaics say wise men are self-sufficient, needing no friends
[Aristippus young, by Diog. Laertius]
|
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2686
|
Aristotle does not confine supreme friendship to moral heroes
[Cooper,JM on Aristotle]
|
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2687
|
For Aristotle in the best friendships the binding force is some excellence of character
[Cooper,JM on Aristotle]
|
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85
|
Bad men can have friendships of utility or pleasure, but only good men can be true friends
[Aristotle]
|
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23919
|
Friendship cannot be immediate; it takes time, and needs testing
[Aristotle]
|
|
23920
|
Decent people can be friends with base people
[Aristotle]
|
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2808
|
Master and slave can have friendship through common interests
[Aristotle]
|
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12275
|
We value friendship just for its own sake
[Aristotle]
|
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1843
|
Friendship is by far the most important ingredient of a complete and happy life
[Epicurus]
|
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511
|
It is better to have one intelligent friend than many unintelligent
[Democritus (attr)]
|
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7895
|
Don't befriend fools; either find superior friends, or travel alone
[Anon (Dham)]
|
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7916
|
True friendship is even rarer than true love
[Rochefoucauld]
|
|
21093
|
Friendship without community spirit misses out on the main part of virtue
[Hume]
|
|
14841
|
Many people are better at having good friends than being a good friend
[Nietzsche]
|
|
14843
|
Women can be friends with men, but only some physical antipathy will maintain it
[Nietzsche]
|
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18295
|
If you want friends, you must be a fighter
[Nietzsche]
|
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23834
|
Friendship is partly universal - the love of a person is like the ideal of loving everyone
[Weil]
|
|
7094
|
Friends express friendship even when no utility is involved
[Statman]
|
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2685
|
The Greek 'philia' covers all good and fruitful relationships
[Cooper,JM]
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