Aristotle’s views on friendship

John Vespasian explains that Aristotle addressed friendship in his “Nicomachean Ethics.” He viewed friendship as indispensable for leading a happy life, but identified three types of friendships: those based on utility, those based on pleasure, and those based on shared values or virtues. The latter is by far the most valuable. Friendships of utility are based on mutual interest. People collaborate with each other for a myriad of reasons, which are not necessarily linked to business or making money. Business partners constitute an example of the Aristotelian “friendship based on utility” but the same can be said of people who join a tennis club because they enjoy play tennis, or even neighbours in a large building. They collaborate in running a business, playing a tennis or football match, maintaining the common areas in a building, or exchanging little favours amongst neighbours. Those friendships are based on tic for tac. If those persons did not have a shared interest, they might perhaps not even talk to each other. If their common interest disappears, those people will grow apart very quickly and their friendship will wane. In contrast, friendships of pleasure arise from enjoying each other’s company. For instance, when a group of youths gather every Saturday night to go out. They tell each other stories and jokes, and have a good time. However, friendships of pleasure tend to remain superficial and temporary. They don’t last long because there are no based on strong intellectual and emotional connections. They deliver some pleasure, but lack depth and endurance power. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-view-on-friendship/