Conclusion: True friendship involves
virtue
----------------
Premises:
1. Friendship, according to Aristotle is
part of life
A.
Friends act to better each other (1155a)
B.
Friendships are natural (1155a)
C.
Friends have no need of justice, and justice is only strengthened by friendship
(1155a)
D.
Friendship is fine (1155a)
2. Friendships have certain requirements
that differentiate them from loving, for example, an inanimate object
A.
The friendship must be mutual between the two (1155b)
B.
The workings of the friendship should be reciprocated by each (1155b)
C.
The Friendship must be acknowledged, the two must be aware of their goodwill
for each other (1155b)
3. Distinguishing true friendship from
other forms
A.
It is not because one is useful (Friendship of Utility) (1156a)
B. It is not because of the passion or
pleasure one brings (Friendship of Pleasure) (1156b)
C.
True friendship is between those alike in virtue (Friendship of Goodness*)(1156b)
D.
Their similarity is in their goodness (1156b)
4. What consists in the friendships of
good people
A.
The presence of trust does not need to be questioned (1157a)
B.
The purpose of friendship is for friendship in itself (1157a)
C.
Friendships don’t have qualifications since good people are good, and they are
friends as long as they are good (1157b)
D.
Involve being useful to one another, as well as pleasure, but not for the
purpose of these things (i)
5. The importance of giving and receiving
between friends
A.
Friendship consists more so in giving and less in receiving (1159b)
B.
The love for one is matched by the worth of their friends (1159b)
C.
Good people with good friends seek to prevent error in themselves, thus also to
prevent relying on their friends as well as to not permit error in their
friends as well (1159b)
6. True friends are friends in the sake
of virtue
A.
There are no fights between true friends, as they seek to make each other
better (1162b)
B. Both
friends get what they want from spending time together, given they are both
good (1162b)
C.
Justice in true friendship is achieved through good character, in addition, it is also unspoken (1162b)
D. A
true friend will make the decision to do what is fine before what is beneficial
(i)
I thought this was a great post. Your premises were straightforward and one could easily see how the sub-premises support each individual premise. What I would have liked to see however, is the differentiation between a friendship and a true friendship. I know you define a true friendship in premise #3 but still I don't quite understand what the other forms of friendship may be. That really is my only problem, everything else was well done.
ReplyDeleteTyler, I really appreciated the clarity and simplicity of your post. However, like Martin, I also had trouble following your 3rd premise. What do you mean by "distinguishing true friendship from other forms". To strengthen this claim, you should discuss what the "other forms". Particularly in Book VIII, Aristotle discusses several forms of friendship: the easily dissolved friendships of pleasure (1156a20), the fickle friendships of young people (1156a31), and "complete friendship" (1156b6). I understand that you're talking about the complete friendship as the most virtuous, but by defining the faults in friendships of pleasure and friendships of convenience, your argument will be much clearer and much stronger. Since your 4th premise is "What consists in the friendships of good people", you're 3rd premise is better suited as: "What does NOT consist in the friendships of good people".
ReplyDeleteThis outline's consistency and flow puts Artistotle's views on friendship in a clear view. However, I agree with the two prior posts when they say it can be more elaborated. If you address the factors of what is not a friendship, things may be clearer and help support subsequent premises. What are your thoughts on a friendship between a volunteer and a homeless person? Although mutual, can the friendship be for different reasons? The volunteer for good as he or she helps give shelter and food; and the homeless for utility?
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a good outline. But like the other comments I would like to hear more about what the wrong types of friendships are or what the other forms of friendship are. I know the professor addressed those in class the other day and now it is clear to me, however if you addressed the other types of friendship I believe that you would have an even stronger argument outline.
ReplyDeleteTyler, this outline seems to flow very well together. All of the premises link to one another and as each explanation goes along, the next one seems to tie in well. I like the sub-premises you pointed out in premise number four. You still found a way to explain the difference between friends for pleasure and utility versus true friends. However, I thought you could have stated that a little more clearly, maybe in a separate premise rather than built into one. You go into so much detail about a true friend, but you could explain other types of friendship just a little bit more. Other than that, I felt like you did a great job in your outline!
ReplyDeleteI also think this is a strong argument. I would like to expand upon premiss 6 though, especially regarding what we went over in class. I also think this is a strong argument. I would like to expand upon premise 6 though, especially regarding sub clause B. If both friends are attracted to each other because they are already good, how would spending time together result automatically in them both getting what they need or want in a friendship. Further more, can you still get what you want from untrue friendships? Does it only apply if both are good? I understand the difference between true friendships and untrue friendships but do they carry traits that are mutually exclusive.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated this post because I was having trouble grasping this specific conclusion in class. I found it very clear and straightforward and it allowed me to understand this topic much better. Obviously though there are many other forms of friendship that could of been mentioned. For example, one form I was curious about was friendship in families. Is this form of friendship true? Is it virtuous? Being that families are bound by blood, you could argue that families are forced into friendship upon birth. If the friendship is simply expected and forced, does that take away from how true or virtuous it is? Still I thought you did a good job of discussing the main points surrounding this premise and like I previously said the simplicity and the straightforwardness really helped me to understand it much more.
ReplyDeleteThis post was very helpful, especially as I start to write my essay based upon Aristotle's conversation of friendship. Just wanted to add to your topic of friendship and virtue by saying the friendships allow for us to be virtuous. This claim comes from the fact that without friendship and social life, there would be no language. Without language, there would be no reason. And finally, without reason, there would be no virtue. Therefore, social life allows for virtuous activity. Also enforcing this claim, is the fact that virtue is socially determined. Great post!
ReplyDelete