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 playing tennis, or of those who happen to be neighbours because they live in the same apartment block. 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 they are not based on strong intellectual and emotional connections. They deliver some pleasure, but lack depth and endurance power. The third type identified by Aristotle are friendships based on shared moral values or virtues. Aristotle calls them “perfect friendships,” especially when those values or virtues are hard to achieve. Friends that share common values will feel genuine respect, generosity and admiration towards each other. They will gladly devote their energies and material resources to helping friends because they see them as contributors to a common cause. These friendships rest on the personality and values of the persons involved. They tend to be strong and enduring. They’ll often last a lifetime, and if they end, it’s because the concerned person has changed his personality or moral values. Nonetheless, Aristotle was wrong in saying that friendships based on shared values take time to develop. In fact, they grow extremely quickly. Once people recognise each other’s loyalty to values they admire, the emotional connection can be almost immediate. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-view-on-friendship/

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