The Ethics of Aristotle - Penn State Hazleton

The Ethics of Aristotleare three, in number equal to the objects of it, since in theline of each there may be “mutual affection mutually known.”Now they who have Friendship for one another desire oneanother’s good according to the motive of their Friendship;accordingly they whose motive is utility have no Friendshipfor one another really, but only in so far as some good arisesto them from one another.And they whose motive is pleasure are in like case: I mean,they have Friendship for men of easy pleasantry, not becausethey are of a given character but because they are pleasant tothemselves. So then they whose motive to Friendship is utilitylove their friends for what is good to themselves; theywhose motive is pleasure do so for what is pleasurable tothemselves; that is to say, not in so far as the friend beloved_is_ but in so far as he is useful or pleasurable. These Friendshipsthen are a matter of result: since the object is not belovedin that he is the man he is but in that he furnishesadvantage or pleasure as the case may be. Such Friendshipsare of course very liable to dissolution if the parties do notcontinue alike: I mean, that the others cease to have anyFriendship for them when they are no longer pleasurable oruseful. Now it is the nature of utility not to be permanentbut constantly varying: so, of course, when the motive whichmade them friends is vanished, the Friendship likewise dissolves;since it existed only relatively to those circumstances.Friendship of this kind is thought to exist principally amongthe old (because men at that time of life pursue not what ispleasurable but what is profitable); and in such, of men intheir prime and of the young, as are given to the pursuit ofprofit. They that are such have no intimate intercourse withone another; for sometimes they are not even pleasurable toone another; nor, in fact, do they desire such intercourse unlesstheir friends are profitable to them, because they are pleasurableonly in so far as they have hopes of advantage. Withthese Friendships is commonly ranked that of hospitality.But the Friendship of the young is thought to be based onthe motive of pleasure: because they live at the beck and callof passion and generally pursue what is pleasurable to themselvesand the object of the present moment: and as their agechanges so likewise do their pleasures.This is the reason why they form and dissolve Friendshipsrapidly: since the Friendship changes with the pleasurable178