Introduction
Friendship has been an integral feature of human existence since ancient times. The topic attracted massive interest from philosophers seeking to uncover what it constitutes. Jean-Marie (2021) states that Aristotle and Epicurus are two of the most significant ancient Greek philosophers who recognized the importance of friendship. The philosophers, however, have a varying understanding of friendship and offer differing views on why friendships exist and their purpose.
It becomes highly essential to have a deeper comprehension of their varied descriptions. This paper aims to analyze the opinions Aristotle and Epicurus proposed regarding friendship. The discussion further describes the impact of the differing conceptualizations on understanding friendship’s role in living a righteous life.
According to Kenny (2018), Aristotle describes friendships as having three levels of utility, while Epicurus’s conceptualization is solely based on the benefits that accrue out of companionship. Aristotle’s view of friendship is grounded in virtue ethics, which emphasizes the importance of good character in living a virtuous life. In contrast, Epicurus emphasizes that friendships are centered on deriving pleasure and enjoyment while avoiding pain.
The Difference Between Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Epicurus’ Philosophy on Friendships
Aristotle implores his proposition on what constitutes friendship from a Nicomachean Ethics perspective. He indicates that friendship includes a mutual association between two parties who have affection for one another and share goodwill. He breaks down friendships into three distinct forms: friendships of pleasure, utility, and virtue.
Copleston (1999) states that friendships of pleasure are based on the enjoyment that can be attained from spending time with another person, such as drinking with pals. Epicurus believes pleasure is vital to a good life (Cuddeback, 2021). Aristotle also describes friendship by referring to utility, which forms the core of establishing a proper connection with another person. He indicates that friendships of utility are based on self-interest and the advantages that can accrue from the relationship, such as gains from business relationships.
However, Aristotle suggests that pleasure and utility friendships are not valuable due to their longevity. The friendship fails as soon as one party stops deriving pleasure or utility from the other. According to Jean-Marie (2021), a person’s utility is not permanent as it keeps evolving and dissolves when the friendship is finished. Therefore, one’s needs change, and the friendship becomes invalid. Likewise, a person’s utility is constantly changing and may lead to a quick expiration of the relationship.
Aristotle considers friendships of virtue the best, as they are characterized by mutual respect and the need to see the other person become the best, so they can be themselves. Aristotle indicates that friendships of virtue are the most meaningful and helpful since they are grounded on the other person’s goodness, minus any interference from external forces (Cuddeback, 2021). The philosopher states that virtues help establish a common understanding of what is reasonable and proper, which are needed in living an honorable life.
Aristotle supposes that such friendships help cultivate good values as people can learn from others, seek counsel and advice, and rehearse goodness in everyday relations with others (Kenny, 2018). Aristotle indicates that a good friendship entails recognizing each other’s virtues. The only people who can enter such relationships are those who endeavor to be good and help each other accomplish their objectives, resulting in a perfect friendship.
Furthermore, Aristotle considers a good life as one that is filled with wisdom and virtue. He believes that a good life, or eudaemonia, can be attained by cultivating intellectual and moral integrity. According to Jean-Marie (2021), eudaemonia represents the ultimate objective in life and entails happiness that is not temporary but an unending state of being.
Happiness is defined as the satisfaction of the soul resulting from leading a virtuous life, as opposed to Epicurus’s proposal of pursuing pleasure or material possessions. According to Jeske (2022), intellectual virtues emanate from developing a person’s analytic capabilities and learning. It involves qualities that enable an individual to think and reason well, such as wisdom, comprehension, and practical intellect.
Moral virtues entail developing good habits and character traits characterized by the attributes that enable an individual to act appropriately and make good choices in everyday life. Examples include justice, courage, temperance, honesty, and generosity (Copleston, 1999). They involve balancing excess and deficiency in personal actions and emotions such that an individual acts according to reason and pursues the good.
Despite being the best form of friendship, Aristotle supposes that friendships of virtue are rare and do not come by easily. Jean-Marie (2021) states that such friendships demand time, effort, and commitment to create and maintain. He insists that friendships of goodness can only exist between virtuous individuals. They require a deep level of understanding and gratitude for each other’s personalities; through this, people can learn from each other and develop good virtues.
Friendships of virtue, as proposed by Aristotle, are closely related to the broader understanding of ethical theory (Kenny, 2018). The view indicates that the final objective of human life is to live a righteous life. Aristotle also suggests that friendship of any nature is essential in breeding happiness, as it enables people to appreciate their sense of belonging, companionship, and support.
On the other hand, Epicurus proposes a different understanding of friendship that is not based on good character or virtues, which he replaces with pleasure and enjoyment. Cuddeback (2021) states that Epicurus tends to agree with Aristotle’s view on utility-based relationships in describing his version of friendships. He indicates that pleasure leads to establishing friendships that result in enjoyment. In his philosophy, friendship is seen as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Epicurus indicates that the main objective of human life is to be happy, which he characterizes as the absence of pain and the presence of pleasure. He believes that friendship is beneficial only insofar as it adds to happiness. Epicurus also suggests that without enjoyment, people cannot establish friendly relations.
In addition to enjoyment, Epicurus introduces the elements of mutual trust and shared interests. He argues that true friendships are formed between people who share the same level of temperament, as this leads to greater enjoyment and understanding of each other. However, Aristotle disagrees with this proposition by referring to age, suggesting that age is essential in differentiating pleasure and utility (Cuddeback, 2021). He argues that in old age, utility is more meaningful as people are too old to derive any joy from friendships, compared to young folks who are also highly emotional.
Epicurus further develops a dual approach to friendships by suggesting that friendship starts with utility. However, individuals in a friendship should not seek or quantify utility. Kenny (2018) indicates that this argument raises a contradiction, even as he desires for people to be autonomous to live well and flourish, leading to freedom. Epicurus holds that freedom is essential to living a good life.
Epicurus says combining self-sufficiency and friendship yields freedom (Copleston, 1999). A person can live a pleasurable life if they can sustain friendships and remain independent of the association, which can lead to reduced freedom (Jean-Marie, 2021). Epicurus considers friendship the grand prize one can pay for feeling safe and helping each other accomplish their goals. However, he insists on the need for pleasure that helps to protect friends from possible distractions and burdens.
Impact of Understanding Friendship’s Role in Life
The difference in opinion, as suggested by Aristotle and Epicurus, significantly affects the understanding of the role of friendship in leading a righteous life. Aristotle considers friendship essential in leading a virtuous life, enabling a person to nurture good habits and virtues. Friendships of virtue involve a deep understanding and liking of each other’s personalities, through which other people can learn and develop their virtues.
On the other hand, Epicurus’ proposition is mainly based on pleasure that emanates from friendship. He does not prioritize character development or the nurturing of good virtues, as proposed by Aristotle. According to Copleston (1999), Epicurus’ conceptualization can result in a superficial type of friendship, where people are solely focused on pleasure and enjoyment.
Aristotle’s view on virtuous friendship is essential for happiness, providing people with a sense of belonging, comradeship, and support (Jean-Marie, 2021). He insists that friendship is vital to leading a good life by developing good habits and morals. Even as Epicurus bases his view on pleasure, he warns people to act cautiously, as the interaction may cause pain.
Conclusion
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Epicurus’s friendship philosophy share some commonalities and differences. Epicurus departs from Aristotle’s description of friendship largely because of the utility component. Still, Epicurus acknowledges the value of utility as an essential foundation in creating friendships. However, he disagrees that it is essential to establish what Aristotle calls friendship of the good.
Aristotle believes utility and gain are not necessary for a friendship to emerge. He considers utility as one type of friendship and indicates that people who love because of utility do so for their good. He states that individuals who live for pleasure do so because of what satisfies them, which makes such friendships unexpected. They dissolve too quickly if the parties do not stick to their original form.
Aristotle concludes that friendships based on utility and pleasure are minor and do not constitute the ultimate form of friendship. He considers a perfect relationship as one that is based on virtues, as it is not easy to change or dissolve. Unlike Epicurus, who centers friendship on pleasure and enjoyment, Aristotle believes in virtue and the good as the ultimate desire.
Epicurus thinks that we must be able to gain something from a friendship such that a connection can exist for its own sake, whilst also having some utility. He believes that friendship is necessary to live well throughout one’s life and is crucial in pursuing virtue and pleasure as the ultimate goal in life. The value of friendship throughout Epicurus’ work is correlated with mutual benefit, individual safety, autonomy, freedom from disturbance, emotions, and feelings. Combining all these elements helps balance pleasure and pain, leading to a happy life where a person can flourish and live well. Therefore, Epicurus considers friendship one of the highest human needs in fulfilling a pleasurable life.
References
Copleston, F. C. (1999). A history of philosophy. Burns And Oates.
Cuddeback, J. A. D. (2021). True friendship: Where virtue becomes happiness. Ignatius Press.
Jean-Marie, G. (2021). The Ethics of Epicurus and its relation to contemporary doctrines. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Jeske, D. (2022). The routledge handbook of philosophy of friendship. Taylor & Francis.
Kenny, A. (2018). Aristotle on friendship in the Nicomachean and Eudemian ethics. Revue de Philosophie Ancienne, XXXVI (1), 73. Web.