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The Ethics of Aristotle - Penn State Hazleton

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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Ethics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Aristotle</strong>form: in Despotism there is little or no Friendship. For generallywherever the ruler and the ruled have nothing in commonthere is no Friendship because there is no Justice; butthe case is as between an artisan and his tool, or betweensoul and body, and master and slave; all these are benefitedby those who use them, but towards things inanimate thereis neither Friendship nor Justice: nor even towards a horse oran ox, or a slave quâ slave, because there is nothing in common:a slave as such is an animate tool, a tool an inanimateslave. Quâ slave, then, there is no Friendship towards him,only quâ man: for it is thought that there is some principle<strong>of</strong> Justice between every man, and every other who can sharein law and be a party to an agreement; and so somewhat <strong>of</strong>Friendship, in so far as he is man. So in Despotisms theFriendships and the principle <strong>of</strong> Justice are inconsiderable inextent, but in Democracies they are most considerable becausethey who are equal have much in common.XIINow <strong>of</strong> course all Friendship is based upon Communion, ashas been already stated: but one would be inclined to separate<strong>of</strong>f from the rest the Friendship <strong>of</strong> Kindred, and that <strong>of</strong>Companions: whereas those <strong>of</strong> men <strong>of</strong> the same city, or tribe,or crew, and all such, are more peculiarly, it would seem,based upon Communion, inasmuch as they plainly exist inright <strong>of</strong> some agreement expressed or implied: among theseone may rank also the Friendship <strong>of</strong> Hospitality,<strong>The</strong> Friendship <strong>of</strong> Kindred is likewise <strong>of</strong> many kinds, andappears in all its varieties to depend on the Parental: parents,I mean, love their children as being a part <strong>of</strong> themselves,children love their parents as being themselves somewhatderived from them. But parents know their <strong>of</strong>fspring morethan these know that they are from the parents, and the sourceis more closely bound to that which is produced than thatwhich is produced is to that which formed it: <strong>of</strong> course,whatever is derived from one’s self is proper to that fromwhich it is so derived (as, for instance, a tooth or a hair, orany other thing whatever to him that has it): but the sourceto it is in no degree proper, or in an inferior degree at least.<strong>The</strong>n again the greater length <strong>of</strong> time comes in: the parentslove their <strong>of</strong>fspring from the first moment <strong>of</strong> their be-192

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