Virtuous Friendships - Aristotle

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One of the virtues that Aristotle discusses in Nicomachean Ethics is the virtue of friendship. Aristotle identifies three kinds of friendship; the friendship of utility, friendship of pleasure, and the virtuous friendship. This short essay will begin by describing each type of friendship and lead into why Aristotle views the virtuous friendship as the being the greatest and most likely to bring us love. The first is the friendship of utility. It is considered to be the most unstable and the one which older men usually pursue. The people who enter these relationships love each other for the utility received from each other, and not for themselves. It is a mutual and honest agreement to trade utilities as both possess something the other desires. An older man’s relationship with a younger girl in the form of a sugar daddy describes this type of relationship. In this relationship they are not in it for what they can give, but rather for what they can get, making it a selfish relationship. These types of friendships are short lived as the utility exchanged loses is value to one person, the relationship ends. The second is the friendship of pleasure. This type of friendship is normally found in young people as they are aimed at pleasure and live under the guidance of their emotions. These types of friendships are usually mutual. They enjoy each other's company, but do not really care about each other's feelings or life problems, they only care for pleasure. They are only doing things that make them happy, and avoid things that are sad or bad. A person who is friends with someone out of pleasure is attracted to them by some trait that the person possesses such as intelligence or humour rather than the complete person. They give pleasure and expect to receive pleasure in return. These types of friendships do not usually last long. They only last as long as

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