Essay about Aristotles Three Motivations For Friendship

Aristotle identifies three motivations for friendship: usefulness, pleasure and good. He postulates that when people seek friendship, they look for someone who is worthy of their affection based on one of those three motives. Whether his argument is true is debatable. Many might object to this simplification of such a complex topic. However, his theory holds weight within the context of Book VIII. Friendships based on two people’s usefulness to each other are considered by Aristotle to be the lowest form of friendship (Aristotle 220). Such friendships are based on each receiving something from the other, whether it is material, such as money, or intangible, such as knowledge. They seek out those who seem good for them (i.e. people who†¦show more content†¦In this type of friendship, each person provides pleasure to the other. Aristotle claims these people do not feel affection for each other because of who they are but rather because of the pleasure they give one anot her (Aristotle 218). It is certainly possible to enjoy a person because of like interests. Two people could be friends because they both enjoy playing video games, for instance. If the only thing drawing the two people together is the fact that they enjoy playing games together, it is a friendship based on pleasure. Should one of those two go blind and no longer be able to play video games, or simply lose interest in playing games, the two would not remain friends, as their mutual pleasure in each other has changed. This type of friendship seems the closer to what someone might consider true friendship. It requires more of a commitment to knowing and understanding each other than does friendship based on usefulness. The final type of friendship is that based on good. When two people are â€Å"alike in excellence or virtue† (Aristotle 219), they have a â€Å"perfect from of friendship† (Aristotle 219). This is the only type of friendship that is based on affection for t he friend rather than what the friend provides (Aristotle 220). Pleasure and usefulness are found in this type of friendship, because they are â€Å"an essential part of the characters of the friends† (Aristotle 220). They areShow MoreRelatedEssay Aristotelian’s Normative Concept of Friendship1475 Words   |  6 PagesIn Books VIII and IX of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the normative concept of friendship is precisely defined and separated into various categories of which Socrates’ and Alcibiades’ relationship can be ascribed to. To achieve this endeavor, one will need to understand Aristotle’s notion of perfect friendship based on reciprocal goodwill and virtue, and imperfect friendship based on utility and pleasure. 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