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Single Idea 2686

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 4. External Goods / d. Friendship ]

Full Idea

I argue that Aristotle does not make friendship of the central kind the exclusive preserve of moral heroes, and that he does not maintain that friendships of the derivative kinds are wholly self-centered.

Gist of Idea

Aristotle does not confine supreme friendship to moral heroes

Source

comment on Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1155a03-) by John M. Cooper - Aristotle on Friendship p.305

Book Ref

'Essays on Aristotle's Ethics', ed/tr. Rorty,Amélie Oksenberg [University of California 1980], p.305

A Reaction

Glad to hear it. Though he does seem to think that only virtuous people can have true friendships. He sees friendship as the cement of a good society, so it has to be fairly widespread.

The 21 ideas with the same theme [close personal relationships as a virtue]:

294 People say that friendship exists only between good men [Plato]
156 Bad people are never really friends with one another [Plato]
3027 Cyrenaics say wise men are self-sufficient, needing no friends [Aristippus young, by Diog. Laertius]
2686 Aristotle does not confine supreme friendship to moral heroes [Cooper,JM on Aristotle]
2687 For Aristotle in the best friendships the binding force is some excellence of character [Cooper,JM on Aristotle]
85 Bad men can have friendships of utility or pleasure, but only good men can be true friends [Aristotle]
23919 Friendship cannot be immediate; it takes time, and needs testing [Aristotle]
23920 Decent people can be friends with base people [Aristotle]
2808 Master and slave can have friendship through common interests [Aristotle]
12275 We value friendship just for its own sake [Aristotle]
1843 Friendship is by far the most important ingredient of a complete and happy life [Epicurus]
511 It is better to have one intelligent friend than many unintelligent [Democritus (attr)]
7895 Don't befriend fools; either find superior friends, or travel alone [Anon (Dham)]
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]
18295 If you want friends, you must be a fighter [Nietzsche]
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]
2685 The Greek 'philia' covers all good and fruitful relationships [Cooper,JM]