Lecture Notes – Aristotle – “Nicomachean Ethics” Books VIII and IX

Book VIII
1) Friendship is a kind of virtue that is necessary for living – it is the state of wishing
another good for his own sake in a way that he knows about and reciprocates
a) Friends define and preserve our character and well being
2) three types of friendship
a) utility
i) friendships based on utility are typically found between the elderly and those
in middle or early life seeking their own advantage
ii) limited bc these friends only take pleasure in each other inasmuch as they are
able to gain advantage from each other
b) pleasure
i) found among the young, who are most inclined to live for pleasure
ii) also limited bc it depends on the friends’ ability to give each other pleasure
c) goodness
i) perfect kind of friendship/ true friendship
ii) arises between people who are good
iii) they are friends not for their own sake (ie for advantage or pleasure) but bc
they love the other person for what they are
iv) develops slowly, but are strong and last until one party or another changes
from their state of goodness
v) can exist without the active component of activities or conversations; ie,
friends who are parted are still friends
vi) friendship spawns a feeling of affections, but it is great than just a feeling –
presumes that the affection is reciprocal
(1) giving, rather than receiving this affections, is the most important thing in
a friendship; loving is the distinctive virtue of friends
vii) may exist between unequals, so long as proportion is maintained – ie, so long
as the greater party in the friendship is loved more than he loves the other
3) one may have many superficial friendships of the lesser types, but it is not possible to
have a great many true friends
4) friendship of all types is an important forces in keeping a community together
5) Analysis of Book VIII
a) Friendship for the Greeks was broader than our own conception – it encompassed
the feelings that countrymen were supposed to feel for each other and even the
parties in a successful business interaction
i) So, friendship in the sense that A is using is seems to encompass all positive
social interactions
b) in true friendships, friends’ feelings for one another are not born of their
emotions, but of their good moral states
i) in other words, the love between friends is less of an emotional response than
a philosophical one (ex of how good moral character is central to A – the
quality of a relationship is based on the moral character of the people within it
Book IX
1) When friends have different understandings of the motives of their friendship, great
problems can result
a) Problems will arise particularly with regards to the giving and repayment of
services
i) The best way to decide how a service should be evaluated is to measure its
worth to the recipient; if the price has not been set beforehand, the recipient
should determine it
ii) To avoid discord between friends, it is best to set a price before the act
2) a utility or pleasure based friendship may be broken off easily whenever its primary
aim (utility or pleasure) is no longer being served
a) but what becomes of friendship based on goodness when one is no longer good?
i) If the changed person is curable, then one should try to remain friends and
help the other return to a better state
(1) But if the vice is incurable, the friendship can be broken off
3) our feelings towards our friends are a reflection of a our feelings towards ourselves
a) if we do not have a correct understanding of the good for ourselves, then we
cannot have a correct understanding of the good of our friends
b) we extend to friends the relation that we have with ourselves
i) if that relation is good, then our relation with others will be good
ii) if that relation is bad then our relation with others will be bad
4) Goodwill is different from friendship in that it need not be mutual, and recipient of
another’s goodwill need not know if its existence
a) GW is generally aroused by some merit or goodness on the part of the recipient
5) self –love is often criticized, but if defined correctly is is in fact the trait of an
admirable person
a) people generally describe self loving people as those that make the most money,
physical pleasure, etc for themselves
b) but a self loving person is also one who behaves with virtue and is assigning to
himself the most true honor, dignity, and happiness
6) to be truly happy, a good person must have virtuous friends
a) friends are necessary both I good fortune (so that one can exercise kindness to
others) and in bad (so that one can enjoy the kindness of others)
b) friendship between good people is not only enjoyable, but will increase the
goodness of the participants, since a person will adopt traits he admires in his
friends

Analysis Book IX
1) A grounds respect for others in self-respect (we can easily relate to this)