Aristotle's Categories Of Friendship Essay

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Friendships are complex relationships, but I would agree will Aristotle that there are three broad categories for friendships: utility, pleasure and virtue. However, I do not believe that these categories are mutually exclusive. Instead, I believe that friendships can be categorized into subcategories, where they can have characteristics from both utility and pleasure. The only pure type of friendship is a virtuous one because this is about caring for the other person’s well being, and not about superficial characteristics. Aristotle believes that this is the only type of friendship that can contribute Eudaimonia, and that utility and pleasure friendships are not essential to a person’s personal happiness. However, I oppose this line of thought and argue that at times utility and pleasure friendships are paramount to one’s happiness …show more content…

I always thought I was an honest person, but once I delved into honesty I realized I needed to desperately cultivate this virtue. Firstly, I realized that I was not truly honest with myself because I would make excuses for my faults. For example, I tell always myself that I’m too busy to go to the gym or to read this book, but the reality is that I’m just being lazy and making excuses for my laziness. This week I had to confront myself and understand that there is so much more I could be doing with my time. Additionally, I realized that I was not being honest with some of my friends. For example, I have this one friend who uses me and is rude towards me, but I just let it happen. I recognized that I need to have an honest talk with her about what is frustrating me and how we can improve the situation. Even though I was not able to fully discuss this with her this week, I am going to continue to think about ways I can honest with her, and find a way to discuss our problems in the

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