Aristotle: A good life is a life shared

In his chapters about friendship, Aristotle delivers a claim that I really enjoyed:

“Without friends, no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods”

Simply put: Friends make life worth living. This quote struck me at an intense level because sometimes I like to think that I don’t need people and I can do things on my own, but Aristotle is right. In this sentence he also clarifies the worth of the different types of friendships. The friendships based on utility or pleasure, although not complete or a love of the good in the person, still has the ability to give someone a reason to choose life more than any other good. He doesn’t specify that only perfect friendships give people this boost in life, but all friends.

A question in class really struck my attention on Thursday: Does Aristotle require two people to be perfectly virtuous to be perfect friends?

I would suggest that he does not.

In a great way of explaining it in class, Rob drew a picture on the board of two men on a path and the sun (which represents the Good) at the end of the path. The two men are on the path however one man is ahead of the other on the path. The man that is ahead has his head oriented towards the sun. Meanwhile the next man has his body orientated away from the sun so that he cannot see it. These two men cannot be perfect friends.

However the two men could be friends if they were both oriented towards the good. Although they are not equal in proximity to the good, they are both oriented towards it. So, two people qualify for perfect friendship if they are both committed to the good and pursue it despite their level of “maturity”.