PHI 251 Reading Quiz 15 Nicomachean Ethics (Books VIII & IX)

By the time Aristotle gets to ch 7 of Book VIII, he has laid out three types of "friendship" that he continues to refer to for the rest of the discussion, such that any additional species of friendship can be understood as some variation on these three main types. Which of the following best captures these three types of "friendship?"

1) Friendships based on utility and/or pleasure, 2) Friendships between unequals, and 3) Friendships between equals who are virtuous

Aristotle dismisses the prospect that the affinity one might have for an inanimate object (e.g. wine) could be called friendship. He gives two reasons for this. Which of the following best captures these reasons.

1) affinities toward inanimate objects aren't reciprocated by those objects, and 2) it doesn't really make sense to wish an inanimate object well for its own sake

In Book IX of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle takes up a wide range of lingering questions about friendship, including if/when friendships ought to be dissolved, whether we should give preference to our friends over strangers, how many friends should we have, and others. One of the more pointed questions he addresses concerns whether or not a flourishing person needs friends at all, given that flourishing seems to entail one is self-sufficient. What conclusion does Aristotle come to on this?

A completely flourishing person needs friends for a variety of reasons, one of which is because significant aspects of what constitutes a flourishing life require friendship.

In the later chapters of Book VIII, Aristotle explores some provocative analogies between friendship and political affiliations. He closes with a comment about what is owed to a "friend" when they benefit us more than we benefit them. He ultimately weighs in on a question we encountered in Plato's Euthyphro: namely whether one can disown one's parents. What does Aristotle end up saying about this?

One can never rightly disown a parent because the debt of our existence is never repaid.

After extolling the clear agreement that friendship is one of the greatest goods in life, Aristotle gets down to business in Book VIII, ch 1, identifying the first big question that his analysis takes up. This first question concerns what seems like a disagreement in common beliefs about friendship that we can see in opposing, but equally popular folksy sayings. Which of the following best captures this disagreement?

Some think that friendship is based on similarity between friends, others seem to think that it is based on complimentary differences between them.